Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of the three countries in the world where the poliovirus remains active–the other is Mozambique which registered one case in 2022. The World Health Organization (WHO) now warns that Pakistan’s deportation of Afghan refugees significantly amplifies the risk of cross-border poliovirus transmission in both countries.
During the 37th session of the Emergency Committee for Polio Eradication, the UN health agency said that children are at risk of contracting the virus as migrants return from Pakistan to Afghanistan under precarious conditions.
According to the WHO, Pakistan continues to register new cases of active polio virus in its northwestern regions that border Afghanistan. In the spring of this year alone, five positive cases of polio were reported in these countries. WHO says that in the past four months, no new positive cases of polio have been registered in Afghanistan.
In October, the Pakistan caretaker government announced a plan known as the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan, asking all undocumented immigrants to leave the country or face deportation. Although the plan purported to apply to all foreigners residing in the country illegally, it appears designed to target Afghans, millions of whom have sought refuge in Pakistan over the years. Since then, nearly 450,000 immigrants, mostly women and children have been deported to the impoverished Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly come close to eradicating polio in the past, but long-running misperceptions in rural areas and attacks on vaccinators have made it difficult to succeed. Some people in rural Pakistan believe that the vaccination campaign is a foreign conspiracy to harm their children, while others attack vaccinators because of religious beliefs. The use of a vaccinator in 2011 by American intelligence agencies to locate the hideout of Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, which led to an operation that killed him, further swayed public perceptions against the vaccine campaigns.
In Afghanistan, polio is only spreading in two eastern provinces, Nangarhar and Kunar, which border Pakistan. All polio cases detected this year were in Nangarhar. Before the Taliban took control in August 2021, the group often attacked health workers who were giving vaccines. Even though the group has allowed a vaccination campaign since taking over, there is still violence against health workers in the country. The U.N. says that at least eight polio vaccinators were killed last year, and nine the year before. It is not clear if the Taliban was behind the attacks.
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus mainly affecting children under the age of five years. The virus grows in the intestinal system and is shed through feces. The infection typically spreads in areas with poor water and sewage sanitation. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. According to the UN agency, vaccinating children under the age of five enhances their immunity and shields them further from the virus. “Repeated immunizations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free, besides the two endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan,” the organization added.
