Is unending polio because of religious militancy in Pakistan? A case of Federally Administered Tribal Areas

Muhammad Ammad Khan and Nazish Kanwal

International Journal of Development and Conflict, 2015, vol. 5, issue 1, 32-47

Abstract: Increasing Polio outbreaks in Pakistan have put the global Polio eradication at risk. The Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) has been the hub of Poliovirus making Pakistan the major contributor of Polio cases. Despite receiving huge foreign funding and carrying out several campaigns for countering Polio over the past several years points to the hard fact that there have been some serious lapses in state’s efforts in addressing this grave issue. The purpose of this research was to examine the households’ level of understanding towards the debilitating disease of Polio and perceptions of Muslim religious scholars regarding the Polio vaccine. The study was carried out in the three tribal agencies of FATA and multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted in targeting the study respondents. Apart from religious militancy and armed-conflict, it was noticed that conspiracy theories against Polio vaccine and mistrust on Polio vaccinators have been the exacerbating factors responsible for the failure of Polio eradication in the region. In order to overcome such factors and to stop the transmission of the devastating disease, serious efforts would be required by spreading meticulous awareness and health education in the region.

Keywords: Polio; Religious Militancy; Awareness; FATA; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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