The History and Current Killings of Polio Vaccinators in Pakistan: A Need for Targeted Surveillance Strategy

Poliomyelitis has been eliminated from all countries of the world except Pakistan and Afghanistan. One of the major reasons is the stigmas associated with the polio vaccine that has been repetitively discussed in literature, and governments of both the countries are already making serious efforts to control this public health challenge, but till this moment, the state officials have not introduced any surveillance strategy for the security of polio workers in National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for Polio Eradication. This report highlights the issue of targeted killing and terrorism attacks on polio vaccinators in Pakistan and also devises a surveillance strategy to provide security to polio workers at immediate possible because the current chaos in Afghanistan will ultimately lead to more terrorist attacks on polio vaccinators.

Automated summary

Poliomyelitis has been eliminated from all countries except Pakistan and Afghanistan due to the stigmas associated with the polio vaccine. Both governments are making efforts to control this challenge, but there is no surveillance strategy for the security of polio workers in the National Emergency Action Plan. This report highlights targeted killings and terrorism attacks on polio vaccinators in Pakistan and proposes a surveillance strategy to protect them from future attacks.