A "key problem" in reaching the goal of polio elimination "may well be that organizers of the global anti-polio initiative, and of other global health programs, are not listening to the people they want to help -- or to each other," Thomas Abraham, an associate professor in the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong, writes in a New York Times opinion piece. "As a result, in many communities targeted by [polio immunization] programs, people perceive a gulf between global programs like polio eradication and more immediate local health needs," he continues, adding, "It is cold comfort to save a child from polio if the child later succumbs to malaria or diarrhea from dirty drinking water."