WHO survey shows low knowledge level, acceptance of polio vaccine among Pashtun Pakistanis

"Polio will never be eradicated in Pakistan until a way is found to persuade poor Pashtuns to embrace the vaccine, according to a study released by the World Health Organization" in its November bulletin, the New York Times reports. A survey of 1,017 parents of young children living in "Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the only big city in the world where polio persists, ... found that 41 percent had never heard of polio and 11 percent refused to vaccinate their children against it," according to the newspaper. Some parents from poor families "cited lack of permission from family elders," Anita Zaidi, a professor at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, said, adding some wealthy parents said the vaccine was "harmful or unnecessary," the newspaper notes. "Pashtuns account for 75 percent of Pakistan's polio cases even though they are only 15 percent of the population," the newspaper adds, noting poorer children are at a higher risk because they are more likely to be exposed to raw sewage, where the virus travels. According to the New York Times, "the eradication drive is recruiting Pashtuns as vaccinators and asking prominent religious leaders from various sects to make videos endorsing the vaccine" (McNeil, 11/5).