Pakistan: Walking the Last Mile for Eradicating Polio – We are Stumbling

Abstract

The pressure of disease eradication can be enormous. Pakistan and Afghanistan are 2 endemic countries that are expected to give the final push to Wild Polio Virus out of planet. Polio Eradication is the largest program the world has known and has the largest frontline workforce that knocks at every door in the country. Pakistan had 15 months period where no human paralytic case of wild polio virus was reported, the program was thought to be headed in the right direction when suddenly, the outbreak happened in northwest part of Pakistan with multiple paralytic cases clustered in time and space. It was only after the detection of these cases that program’s telescope turned to this part of Pakistan that had longstanding issues which were not unknown. The outbreak has now spread to other parts of Pakistan. In this article, the author narrates her experience from the field that highlight the issues with roots that penetrate deep in the systems and hamper not only the progress of Polio Eradication but also, why overall health investments do not reach masses adequately. The author also presents the solution(s) that need to be implemented by overturning “one size fits all approach”. This entails local policy making through firsthand community interaction instead of policies made in fancy offices far away from these communities.