Taliban Denies Polio Vaccine To 300,000 Children

Taliban militants in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley region are preventing UN officials from administering the Polio vaccine to hundreds of thousands of children with the claim that it is an anti-Muslim sterilization plot, the Telegraph reports. Radical Taliban clerics have taken to the radio and are even using megaphones to spread awareness of the "US tool to cut the population of the Muslims."

The World Health Organization's (WHO) Polio Team was originally promised access to the area as part of an earlier peace agreement -- an agreement that has apparently been broken. The WHO is now declaring the situation -- which endangers up to 300,000 children -- a medical emergency. From the Telegraph:

Yesterday government officials convened another meeting in Swat [in] an attempt to break the impasse, according to Dr Abdul Jabbar, the WHO's polio team leader in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Swat had recorded 4 cases of polio last year of the total 53 recorded by NWFP and the tribal areas. Pakistan had 118 cases in 2009.

The WHO recorded 39 cases of polio in Pakistan in 2006, up from 28 in 2005. The disease is concentrated in NWFP where 60% of the refusals were attributed to "religious reasons".

Sharia law was imposed on the Swat Valley region last month as part of an agreement with the Pakistani government, much to the chagrin of many human rights and health organizations, who warn of the traditional Islamic legal structure's sometimes brutal and repressive practices. According to AsiaNews, part of the new system dictates that NGOs be expelled from the region and that many imprisoned hard-line Taliban be released, guaranteeing that the Polio vaccine will not reach the local inhabitants:

Since Sharia came into effect on 16 February lawyers have lost their job, NGOs have not been allowed to operate, polio vaccination has been banned, Taliban in custody have been released, and demands that Islamic law be implemented in the other districts of the province have made. The agreement signed by the government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Tahrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) movement in a bid to end years of war and violence is bearing fruit. Under Sharia civil liberties and personal freedoms are being curtailed and what was once a famous destination for national and international tourism is being progressively "talibanised".

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday also ordered all non-governmental organisations to immediately leave Swat. For the Islamist organisation "NGO is another name for 'vulgarity and obscenity'," because they hire women who work with men, in the field and in offices. "That is totally unislamic and unacceptable," TTP spokesman Muslim Khan said.

The timing of the NGO expulsion is especially inopportune for Polio vaccinations because it is in the first three months of the year that transmission is lowest. According to the WHO Polio Team's Dr. Nima Abid in a press release:

"Polio vaccination is effective in the first three months of the year when virus transmission is lowest and so there is no interference with the vaccine virus."

Comments

[vishix]

07:59 PM on 03/29/2009

The Taliban are following Islam. Islam is against technology, tolerance, science and progress.

[kentah]

12:53 PM on 03/29/2009

I for one wouldn't trust some foreign entity sticking a needle in my arm nor brandishing some cocktail to be taken orally. Especially in a warzone. "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts."

[DD1Prime]

12:38 AM on 03/29/2009

This is only the beginning. The Taliban will shut down all health care and education to the civilian populations under their control - starting with girls and women. Their infamous record in Afghanistan is a matter of very recent historical record - conditions became so miserable that suicide became the leading cause of death (for a very religious people who believed it was a ticket straight to Hell).

This is not the US's problem though - Pakistan created the evil know as the Taliban, and they must now take responsibility and destroy all of Taliban forces or BE destroyed by them. The Taliban not only spread diseases like polio (on purpose), they ARE a disease - both in terms of a mockery of Islam and of human decency.

[Horst]

09:49 PM on 03/28/2009

The Nigerian Muslims did the same thing (microbiology and immunology are not their strong suit) and.....voila tens of thousands of kids developed polio.

[Ergon]

05:41 PM on 03/28/2009

Doctors against Vaccinations http://www.vaccinetruth.org/doctors_against_vaccines.htm
Gulf War Vets against Vaccinations http://www.gulfwarvets.com/hep-b.htm

[aweissnet]

06:57 PM on 03/28/2009

Gulf War vets should be opposed to vaccinations. There are many scientists and doctors who believe THAT is the cause of "Gulf War Syndrome." although you'll never find the government, here or elsewhere, admit to it. Too much at stake.

[MagisterLudi]

09:38 PM on 03/28/2009

Dudes you ever SEEN a face of a person who survived a strong case of pox?
Come to your senses.

[DD1Prime]

12:45 AM on 03/29/2009

Pretty sad to use a tragedy like this to grandstand against medical care. The evidence that vaccinations lower the incidence of deadly diseases (like influenza, hepatitis, and polio), saving and/or improving millions of lives, is irrefutable. It is also a fact a small number of people have dangerous reactions to some vaccines. The ability to look at ALL the facts instead of selecting anecdotes to fit a political belief (anti-government conspiracy theory) is what distinguishes a scientific mindset from an irrational emotional one.

[southwindow]

02:02 PM on 03/28/2009

their are plenty of things to be worried about when it comes to the drug companies, but polio vaccine isn't on the top of my list.
Polio Vaccine obviously works, and contamination may have been a problem but it is far out weighed by the benefits

[etcetc]

01:28 PM on 03/28/2009

Hmmm... the ignorance here may get them in the end. Let's say they there is a polio outbreak there in 10-15 years. It could wipe out their future recruits.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:13 PM on 03/28/2009

And paralyze hundreds of thousands of (mostly) children every year worldwide if the near-eradication currently achieved is rolled back. Since Polio is still endemic, unless universal vaccination breaks the cycle, it won't take 10-15 years.

[arvay]

02:57 PM on 03/28/2009

Bravo.

If there's one lesson we all need to learn, it's the interconnectedness of things.

People tried to ignore AIDS because it was a "gay disease." Now, it's spread far and wide. And who knows what it might mutate into, which we wouldn't have to worry about if the world had acted more quickly.

More fundamentally, poverty, malnutrition and disease affect us all -- much of the world's conflict starts with these conditions, and they fuel the ideological and religious enmity we see all around us.

The best hope for Swat is not disease and deprivation - - it's prosperity.

If conflict can be avoided, we can hope that young ambitious people will migrate from Swat to more moderate and prosperous areas of Pakistan, as people do in China and India. maybe their "remittances" will help raise living standards and spread some good "subversive" ideas like tolerance and moderation. A much easier "sell" if your kids are healthy and not being bombed.

[aweissnet]

01:00 PM on 03/28/2009

Oh yeah, we're doing great since we started mass vaccination.

I know people with crippling and chronic diseases. I think we might prefer risking a bout of polio.

Fear mongering--the pharmaceutical industry pushing their wares. Shame on you for swallowing every bit of BS they pushed on you. And you think they CARE about your health? Get a grip.

They have the right to exercise their choice, and if they're paranoid, I would say they have good reason. Plenty of Americans have woken up to the threat of vaccines and are refusing them. And are the healthier for it.

[ThinkCreeps]

02:09 PM on 03/28/2009

Sadly, there's nothing we can give you to prevent stupidity.

[KansasWrangler]

03:04 PM on 03/28/2009

What an unbelievably ignorant comment.

[Ergon]

05:06 PM on 03/28/2009

Juvenile Diabetes, Arthritis, Autism, and a myriad number of chronic illnesses have been introduced into society since vaccinations became compulsory.
http://www.vran.org/vaccines/flu-bird/flu-hyst1918.htm The Spanish Flu epidemic began in US Army camps in 1918, and you have Gulf War veterans who have died or children born with deformities. I suppose they and other parents are ignorant too.

[aweissnet]

06:52 PM on 03/28/2009

Incredibly educated, sorry to tell ya.

[Ergon]

12:32 PM on 03/28/2009

Read "The Virus and The Vaccine" by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher which shows how teh polio vaccine is contaminated with a carcinogenic monkey virus known as SV 40.

[AG64]

12:46 PM on 03/28/2009

Been spending a lot of time lately in the science fiction section of the bookstore, eh? So did your polio vaccine way-back-when leave you with a carcinogenic monkey virus that is now insidiously attacking your prefrontal cortex, and manifesting itself in wacky HuffPo posts?

The Taliban is what happens when the sociopaths are allowed to take over. It's a good thing the sociopaths in this end of the world are [usually] kept in check just enough for the more reasonable folks to deal with important matters a bit more seriously and lucidly.

[3dtrix]

03:17 PM on 03/28/2009

So - does the hierarchy of the Catholic Church - which denies birth control to millions of the impoverished, and condoms both as birth control and AIDS prophylaxis to the at-risk - qualify as sociopaths, in your opinion? They do in mine, but I thought I'd throw out a little cultural relativism...

[Ron1951]

12:51 PM on 03/28/2009

...and this vaccine which has almost wiped out this terrible disease should not be given to children because...? You don't honestly think that the Taliban is banning these innoculations because of of a report of contamination.

[ChaoticGood]

12:07 PM on 03/28/2009

We really should be looking at our own safety because if Polio resurges in Pakistan, then it won't be long before it shows up in America again. We are not properly protected in this country anymore, so we had better prepare to stop immigration and tourism from countries that are so medically medieval. We have enough problems without adding more in the form of Polio. We have many medical problems as well in Mexico that are not being addressed properly. A polio epidemic is not something we want to have happen here.

[ThinkCreeps]

11:53 AM on 03/28/2009

Already crippled in the head, soon to be crippled in the body. Their co-religionists in Nigeria were the last to f*ck up the chances of the worlds' children being safe from this scourge.

Allah 2. Rest of the world 0.

[danusgram]

11:08 AM on 03/28/2009

When they end up with a population full of crippled men and women, especially the men, how will they ever continue their violence? Let them do it. Who will they blame then the oxygen in the air?

[kashifsaeed28]

10:51 AM on 03/28/2009

Taliban are a bakward people and they have tried to hijack the great religion of Islam with their strange idealogies. Nevertheless we cant blame them for everything that is happening. Afterall this is a generation that grew up during the time of war. They did not receive proper education, lost most of their family members and were shunned by the rest of the world after US withdrew post Soviet Union collapse. Its a mess that was created by the west and now the west wants to blame everything on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Shame.

My blog:
http://project-you-are-not-alone.blogspot.com

[isis]

10:43 AM on 03/28/2009

Thus is a sign that they are losing it. Unfortunately they will get even more erratic and desperate before they crash all together.

[aweissnet]

01:02 PM on 03/28/2009

It's a sign that they are aware of what the Pharmaceutical Industry is pushing. Good for them.

[arvay]

10:16 AM on 03/28/2009

This is where we need to keep our cool.

The temptation will be to go in there and stop this with force. Well, if the Pakistani government tries that, they'll just convince the people they'd be trying to "help" that the Taliban is correct. For sure, the elected government of Pakistan realizes what nonsense this is, but they have decided not to fight these guys right now -- because the Pakistani army was creating more jihadis than they were eliminating.

The bottom line is that we need to support the Pakistani government with aid and let them decide how to run and fix their own country. Helping Pakistan to prosper -- most of its people are moderates and don't support the extremist parties -- is the best route to success, over time.

Just as in China, rural people will be attracted by jobs and more opportunities in the more modern part of their country, and Sharia-Land will deflate eventually. But there are no short-term fixes.

A lot depends on a vibrant world economy and modern communications. For sure, there are a lot of satellite receivers in Swat where people can find out the truth.