...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
virus, notable amongst them Pakistain, most of the world has shown grace in allowing us time to clean up our act. There has been some activity on this count, with the government having imposed from June 1 a travel ban on people not able to produce a government-issued vaccination certificate and the setting up of vaccination booths at international airports, etc and -- on paper, at least -- a renewed resolve to overcome the myriad challenges that lie in the path of improving matters. Most recently, on Sunday, Islamabad hosted an international conference on polio eradication that was attended by about 50 holy mans from Pakistain, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, Egypt and Nigeria. Also present were representatives of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Al Azhar University and King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah. According to the blurb, Minister of State for National Health Services, Saira Afzal Tarar, had sought the guidance and aid of holy mans in eradicating polio.
Given the situation, there is no doubt that the step must be appreciated. Other than plain misinformation or the lack of awareness, much of the resistance in parts of Pakistain to having the vaccine administered to children has been the result of the manner in which the anti-polio campaign has been made contestable on religious grounds by krazed killer elements. Nevertheless, there is great irony in Ms Tarar regretting that Pakistain remains one of the world's only three polio-endemic countries (the others being Afghanistan and Nigeria). The fact is that even at this critical juncture, and notwithstanding efforts such as vaccination booths and conferences, nowhere in evidence is the urgency and tight coordination among governmental and administrative circles that the situation warrants. Polio cases are still being reported with distressing frequency; in fact, it was reported yesterday that a five-month-old from Datta Khel in the tribal areas is the latest to succumb, bringing the number of cases detected to 83 this year alone. Worryingly, the challenges are set to mount -- and fast. With the military operation now under way in North
Wazoo, estimates say that there will be 300,000 unvaccinated children among the flood of non-combatants that are set to flee the region. Has the government a real plan, one that goes beyond good intentions and promises? We have yet to see any.