Pakistan anti-polio drive struggles against militants, mistrust

Dedicated health workers in Pakistan battle misinformation and militant attacks to eradicate polio, protecting children from lifelong paralysis.

Militant attacks and suspicion stemming from misinformation are hampering Pakistan's battle to eradicate polio, but teams of dedicated volunteer health workers are determined to fight on.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the debilitating virus remains endemic, the disease mostly affecting children under five and sometimes causing lifelong paralysis.

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Cases in Pakistan are on the rise, with 45 registered so far this year, up from six in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but in parts of rural Pakistan health workers risk their lives to save others.

Last week seven people including five children were killed when a bomb targeted police travelling to guard vaccine workers. Days earlier two police escorts were gunned down by militants.

"When we hear that a polio vaccination team has been attacked, it deeply saddens us," said health worker Zainab Sultan, 28, as she went door to door in Panam Dehri in northwest Pakistan