Polio program security in Pakistan and Afghanistan - finally legal but not safe.

Abstract

Both wildtype and vaccine-derived poliomyelitis has experienced a seemingly widespread resurgence in Pakistan and Afghanistan following the War in Afghanistan, the retreat and resurgence of the Taliban, population displacement, and the appropriation of a vaccine campaign to identify the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. These systemic challenges have manifested in obscure ways by greatly increasing vaccine hesitancy amongst both populations, by exposing host-nation communities to vaccine-naive and disease-carriers in refugee populations, and on significant health security concerns for those working, volunteering, and adminstering vaccine campaigns. This watching brief ties these seemingly disparate threads together to provide an accurate snapshot of the challenges faced by Pakistan and Afghanistan.