The recent measles outbreak in the U.S. resulted in a nationwide conversation on the importance of vaccinating children. However, America isn’t the only nation that’s dealing with an outbreak.
With polio spreading throughout the Middle East, Pakistan has begun to arrest those who refuse to vaccinate against the disease, according to Vice News.
The deputy police commissioner for Peshawar, Riaz Khan Mahsud, told the New York Times that there have been as many as 16,000 cases of parents refusing to vaccinate their children.
Mahsud added that there is “total determination” on the part of the police to arrest people if they don’t get vaccinated, and that there is “no leniency” on the measure.
Last year, there were 306 cases of polio in Pakistan, according to the New York Times, which is a significant increase from previous years.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan is still below the necessary vaccination rate to be able to effectively fight and eradicate the disease:
Image Source: World Health Organization
The current vaccination rate in Pakistan is 61%, while neighboring countries – such as Iran – are at 98%.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic. The WHO warns that failure to fully eradicate polio in these remaining areas could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year in the next 10 years, worldwide.
In opposition to the efforts by the Pakistani government, the Taliban has resorted to violent measures to prevent vaccination in the country. The group has been working to portray the vaccination campaign as an operation by the U.S. government.
A Pakistani official has told NPR that although he encourages everyone to get the vaccine, he acknowledges the hesitations that Pakistani citizens may have:
“There are certain areas in Pakistan where the people resist [the polio vaccine] because the CIA used the polio campaign for intelligence purposes.”
Currently, the United States is facing its own vaccination issues over the recent outbreak of measles most likely due to foreign travelers, possibly from the Philippines. Lack of access to vaccinations in Asian and African countries causes a domino effect when diseases like measles spread overseas.
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