In many of the Star Wars films, the heroic Jedi confront (and usually defeat) the Dark Side. It is an allegory for confronting the very things that scare us in our own lives. It is not to be taken lightly, since there are many people who confront evil at their own peril on a daily basis.

The polio vaccine workers of Pakistan are a perfect example of people standing up against bad people to do what is right. If the health workers are the Jedi, then the the Taliban are the Stormtroopers aiding the evil foe Darth Polio.

Just last week, a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a polio vaccination center in the city of Quetta. More that 15 people died as a result. Most were the armed guards meant to protect the vaccine workers from gun attacks.

"Suddenly there was a loud bang and I fell to the ground, I could not see anything, there was dust everywhere," said Shabir Ahmed, a police officer who survived the attack, to AFP. "Then I heard people screaming and sirens of ambulances."

It is just the latest attack launched by the Taliban against the volunteers. With Pakistan and Afghanistan the only two remaining polio-endemic countries, the eradication of the disease is not far off. But getting to zero means reaching more children with vaccines, a simple act that flies in the face of Taliban orders.

Knowing this threat, people still volunteer to vaccinate children against polio in Pakistan. More than 300 polio cases were recorded in Pakistan in 2014. It was the most since 1999 and a direct result of attacks on health workers. But they did not stop. Persistent campaigns helped reduce the number of cases to about 50 last year.

There were 350,000 cases of polio in dozens of countries in 1988. There were only 70 cases last year. 2015 also saw Nigeria officially achieve polio-free status. If progress continues, Pakistan and Afghanistan will see their last cases in the next few years - maybe even this year.

Luke and Rey are names now known across the world for fighting the Dark Side. You may not know the names of Pakistan's polio vaccine workers, but they are real-life Jedi taking on a crippling disease and the Taliban. And like the inevitibility of the Death Star exploding in Star Wars, the Taliban cannot prevent the end of polio.

Editorial

Defeat Poverty

Polio vaccine workers are modern day Jedi warriors

By Tom Murphy