Comment: Poliomyelitis in Pakistan: time for the Muslim world to step in

The Lancet  
May 04, 2013  Volume 381  Number 9877  p1511 – 1596
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Comment
Poliomyelitis in Pakistan: time for the Muslim world to step in
Qanta A Ahmed, Sania Nishtar, Ziad A Memish

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Global poliomyelitis eradication is almost within reach—this disease persists only in Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, which are countries with substantial Muslim populations.1 Today this ambitious goal is threatened, partly by misinformed and politicised religious views that not only seed suspicion about polio vaccination but recently led to murder of polio workers. In Pakistan, 16 workers engaged in a polio vaccination campaign have been killed since December, 2012, halting vaccination in many parts of the country and placing Pakistan’s 2012 gains in poliomyelitis eradication at risk.