Polio Cases Jump in Pakistan as Clerics Declare Vaccination an American Plot

Pakistan’s remote northwestern frontier, one of the few remaining hotspots of polio in the world, has been a major focus of efforts to eradicate the disease. Now, however, health workers in Pakistan face a new obstacle: political fallout from the US-led war on terror. Local tribal and religious leaders have convinced thousands to refuse polio vaccinations in the belief that the vaccine is an American scheme aimed at the sterilization of Muslims. In other cases, some local authorities demand benefits from the Pakistani government before allowing vaccinations to proceed. Health workers in Pakistan have made great strides in fighting polio, vaccinating 6 million people in January alone. If they cannot overcome these new political obstacles, however, the disease may survive to spread again another day. – YaleGlobal