Daesh, or ISIS, as it is called in the West, has now added another weapon to its arsenal. It’s a weapon that had been destroying lives for decades, but was finally on the verge of eradication.
I’m talking about polio.
And if you have been keeping tabs on the polio eradication progress, you might know that Afghanistan is one of the only two countries remaining with active polio cases, the other being Pakistan.
Polio Eradication progress mapped
Some of the factors that have caused this delay are cultural misconceptions surrounding the polio vaccine, the hard to reach nature of majority of the rural areas, and, of course, occupation of these rural areas by militant groups like Daesh, whose one goal is to spread terror.
According to a report by Noor Zahid, Daesh militants are delaying polio vaccinations for tens of thousands of children in areas that are under their control.
While some Afghan children have access to the OPV, many living in the rural areas are being denied this vaccination.
Gula Khan Ayub, a Ministry of Public Health official, said around 100,000 children were not able to get vaccinated in a recent four-day polio vaccination campaign carried out in 14 eastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan due to militants' threats.
The Afghan government says that Daesh militants are blocking polio vaccination campaigns, and not letting health workers into these remote areas, because they believe the West is using these health workers for intelligence gathering purposes.
Are you kidding me?
And, of course, they are spreading misinformation regarding the polio vaccine among the locals, to increase paranoia and mistrust. The health workers in these regions were already facing cultural misconceptions, and were working hard to educate people. This additional paranoia only hurts the chances of reaching the current goal of polio eradication by 2019.
By blocking the vaccinations, children are put at risk and the possibility of widespread transmission increases. Young children in rural areas with poor sanitation are the most vulnerable.
Children in the hard to reach villages of Afghanistan are at high risk of infection and transmission of the polio-virus.
In the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, where the fighting between Taliban, Daesh and government forces has been extremely disruptive in recent months, over 4,000 children have gone unvaccinated. And 16 cases of polio have been registered with the Ministry of Public Health.
Fortunately, despite Daesh’s attempts at misinforming the people, local residents like Zabihullah Shinwari have expressed their concern, and urged that “relevant security departments should pay attention to this issue so that the security situation gets better and children get vaccinated."
According to Nangarhar Governor Salim Khan Kunduzi, the rural community elders are trying to resolve the issue by reaching an understanding with the militants in these regions. This strategy had worked in the Taliban-dominated Haska Mena region in Pakistan, but unfortunately the militants of Daesh are not allowing any medical help in the regions they’re terrorizing.
One is bound to wonder, how can these children receive the medical care they need? Surely, more aimless war cannot be the solution.
In some regions under the control of Daesh, locals volunteer to get trained and run the polio vaccination campaigns themselves, but most still look towards the administration to provide security measures.
People like Mohammed Nasir still understand the importance of the polio vaccine, despite the attempts by Daesh to misguide the locals.
Efforts need to be made to secure the availability of vaccination, safety of the health workers, and ensure the strong public demand of the polio vaccination by the locals in these regions.
Since Afghanistan has committed to strengthen its polio eradication efforts at CHOGM 2015, this issue needs the utmost attention of its government, along with Canada, Australia and the UK.
The fight to eradicate polio might be more dangerous in this case, but it is just as important and crucial, if we are to end polio by 2019.
The final push to eradicate polio will ensure the safety of children everywhere.