A rising number of polio victims in Pakistan has raised many questions against the reason and confusion about the disease. We'll try to sum up a few of them here:
Q. Do polio drops cause infertility and turning up the boys sterile(bhanj)?
Against the popular misconception about polio vaccine in Pakistan there is neither such data available nor any case is reported in Pakistan or anywhere else, which claims infertility because of the use of polio vaccine in childhood. It was the year 2000 when door to door free of cost proper polio vaccine campaign started all over Pakistan so the child maximum with 5 years of age will be 24 years old in 2019. After completing their studies few of them may just married hardly two or three years before so there is not any data or proof is available against this rumor that how many children had polio drops and now after meeting the marital status they’re not having babies and turn to be sterile boys.
Q. Roll of Osama Bin Laden and Dr. Shakeel Afridi in spreading polio in Pakistan?
The spying mission of America to locate Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan with the help of team polio workers headed by Doctor Shakeel Afridi has also affected the cause of polio safe Pakistan. It is said that Dr. Shakeel used markers with cameras to mark the thumb of kids and spied for FIA to locate Osama Bin Laden. Since the time, polio teams are suffering severe reactions and hatred from locals in areas of KPK in fear of violating family privacy rules.
Q. Do polio drops are given in India?
India also has fought against thousands of poliovirus cases per year around the country for long. The Indian government and private NGOs with all possible help of world health organization and Bill Gates charity foundation initiated polio drop campaigns all over the country. A country with 5 times more population and area than us, despite poor sanitation and poverty, India successfully eradicated this virus all around the country. It was 2013 when not a single case of polio was reported all over the country. This luck and effort continued for the next two years too and world health organization announced India as polio safe country with other three more countries.
Q. Why Bill Gates foundation is so much interested in donating for polio vaccine in Pakistan?
The folks in Pakistan also see the foreign aid suspicious. Pakistan is the third world country, where only 2% of the national budget is fixed for health, medical, availability of clean drinking water and improvement of sanitation. First the governments and NGOs themselves encourage private NGOs like Bill Gates charity foundation and others from affluent countries for donation and ask for providing the technical or any other support.
Taking help is our constraint, not theirs.
Q. HOW MANY COUNTRIES ARE POLIO AFFECTED IN WORLD NOW?
Only two countries Pakistan and Afghanistan remain unfortunate in the whole world with repeated polio victims every year. No other country, rich or poor, in the world is looking crippled kids of polio now except these two.s
Q. WHAT, IF POLIO AFFECTED KID LIVE AT MY NEIGHBOUR OR AROUND MY CITY?
Then be alert and careful! Any polio affected person/kid is a poliovirus career. If the area has a poor drinking water supply system then the feces of a child having a poliovirus can mix with underground water. Then the poliovirus may travel to your tap and then to the stomach of your kids. The only solution is to immune your child against polio by giving him/her polio drops at every campaign.
READ: WHEN MY BROTHER DIAGNOSED A POLIOVIRUS
Q. WHY POLIO DROPS ARE GIVEN EVERY SECOND MONTH?
Because the immunity against poliovirus stands only for a month with one dose of drops, so it is needed to repeat the dose every second month to keep our children safe from polio.
Q. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF A KID GOT POLIO VIRUS?
Poliovirus targets and hits neurons at the brain, stem and spinal cord which leads to loss of muscle strength and malfunctioning of few-body systems towards permanent disability. After a long medication, some of the body functions may restore working but after some time, this virus may affect some other muscles even the breathing muscles. Mostly both or one leg stopped to aid the body or arms may affect to work in polio.
Q. WHY POLIO DROPS ARE NOT REPLACED WITH INJECTIONS IN PAKISTAN?
Polio drops are more effective, cheap and require less trained staff to be delivered. The countries which show polio cases every year there these drops are considered more reliable. Once polio eradicated from any country it can gradually shift towards injections.
Q. DO POLIO VACCINE IS HALAL?
Yes, the polio vaccine or its ingredients has been declared Halal by authentic ulemas from all the world. Islam does not prevent in anyway a need of cure against any disease.
Q. DO POLIO DROPS ARE USED IN EUROPE AND AMERICA TOO?
No, It was the time when Europe was struggling against this fatal virus then these drops were widely and frequently given to kids before 5 years of age. In early 2000 there were no polio cases reported in any European country. Asides they put hard efforts to the improvement of hygiene conditions and availability of clean water to every resident. Slightly these countries shifted from drops to injection. In America, not a single polio case is reported after 1979. Yes, it happens.
Q. WHEN POLIO DROPS DOOR TO DOOR CAMPAIGNS WERE STARTED AT PAKISTAN?
It was 2000 when around 100 polio cases were reported and government initiated this door to door campaign and still fatefully we’re struggling with this disease as 17 cases in 2017 and 8 cases in 2018 were reported and no country can be announced polio safe until no case is reported for consecutive three years. Do remember these kids are carriers of the virus when they shift from remote areas or areas with misconceptions and mistaken beliefs hindering the campaigns to big populated cities Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad. It was especially observed in Karachi where the poliovirus was present in underground water at areas with immigrants from remote regions of KPK or Baluchistan.
Q. DO POLIO VACCINE CONTAIN HORMONES OR CAUSE CANCER?
No, Government and many NGOs also had laboratory tests on the roar of having hormone affecting ingredient in polio drops and found nothing such thing.
Q. WHY POLIO IS NOT FINISHED FROM PAKISTAN EVEN AFTER LONG RUN CAMPAIGNS
Hard reached areas of Balochistan or higher mountains of KPK, life threats to polio workers, rumors, poor sanitation, unfiltered drinking water, unhygienic lifestyle, and food are also the main cause of still unsuccessful efforts against polio-free Pakistan.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT POLIO CAMPAIGN RESISTING AREAS, Pakistan
The areas of Pakistan where polio campaigns are widely resisted are those where people enjoy polygamy(more than one wife) with several broods have fear of infertility for their future generation with the polio vaccine. They are more concern about a number of children regardless of their mental or physical health or sometimes it doesn't bother them if anyone of children gets crippled for life.
Believe this our real enemies are rumor spreading persons against these drops who do not want to see prosperous and healthy youth ahead. We're not sure about the number of sterile boys but we can witness the increasing number of crippled young because of rumors and misconceptions.
DREAM OF POLIO FREE PAKISTAN
So last but not least we all have to stand by the government to make this polio drops campaigns successfully to eradicate this poliovirus from our country to protect our next generation. Dream of polio-free Pakistan can be true only if as a nation we snub those people, posts, and comments which spread misconceptions for no reason.