In Pakistan, polio workers persist despite perils

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan, Nov. 27, 2023. As the global community marks World Polio Day on October 24, Pakistan faces 39 cases so far this year, compared to six in 2023. Fozia Kalwar, pictured in an undated selfie, says she makes less than $50 a week vaccinating people against polio. Fiza Bibi, middle, is photographed with Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Islamabad, Pakistan, June 2024.

Pakistan's fight to eradicate polio is marked with hopeful highs and disappointing lows. As the global community marks World Polio Day on October 24, the nuclear-armed nation faces a staggering 39 cases so far this year, compared to six in 2023 and 20 the year before. In 2021, the South Asian nation briefly seemed on track to eradicating the paralytic virus, with just one reported case the entire year.