Not only have the polio and
jalsa viruses paralyzed Pakistan, there are no credible plans to control them.
Pakistan has this curious
penchant to get chalked up in the various lists of infamy. The Global Polio
Eradication Initiative was started in 1988 and was based on vaccination and
surveillance. Progress was tracked through surveillance of cases of acute flaccid
paralysis with testing of stool samples and sewage for the polio virus in the
area of the acute case. The results have been dramatic. In 1988 polio was
endemic in 125 countries and paralyzed 350,000 children every year. By 2011 the
number of polio cases had been reduced to 650. By 2012 only three countries
remained where the polio virus had not been interrupted: Afghanistan, Nigeria
and Pakistan. And Pakistan is the only country showing an increase in the
number of detected cases.
The polio virus is transmitted
through fecal-hand-oral contamination. It can result in weakness of the leg
muscles or quadriplegia, respiratory failure and death. There are no effective
treatments for the paralysis caused by polio, so the mainstay is immunization.
The protection from immunization with the injectable and the oral polio
vaccines is around 90%.
Pakistan had almost eradicated
the polio virus in 2012 but the fake CIA hepatitis immunization program to gain
information about Osama bin Laden brought efforts to a screeching halt. The
Taliban banned all immunizations as they felt that immunization programs were
being used for spying. Some radicals also believe that immunization programs
will be used as a cover for sterilization of Muslim children. Since 2012 at
least 40 health workers have been killed because of their participation in
immunization programs.
The highest incidence of polio
was in Taliban controlled areas in North and South Waziristan. With Operation
Zarb-e-Azb there have been fears that polio would spread across Pakistan with
the exodus of IDPs. But we can use this as an opportunity to immunize; about
100,000 IDP children had been immunized by June 2014; the aim is to vaccinate 200,000
children.
But the bad news has not
stopped. In September 2014 the polio virus was detected in the sewage of some
major cities: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta and Jacobabad. Very
surprisingly Islamabad and Peshawar sewage samples tested negative for the
polio virus.
Instead of spending
from the public treasury to protect, actually over-protect, the prime minister,
the president, the cabinet, parliamentarians as well as children of former
prime ministers, we need to provide fool-proof security to immunization health
workers. Bullet proof vests, traveling with a cordon of soldiers and security
of their homes are a compelling need. And if nothing else matters, perhaps we
should be ashamed that India has eradicated polio; and most certainly, if India
can, so can we.
A massive health
education program needs to be initiated as well as infomercials repeated over
all television stations, highlighting the importance of hygiene, immunization
and population control. Unlike India and Bangladesh, Pakistan has no population
control programs in place and a good amount of its misery is the population
rapidly outstripping its already meager resources.
Dharnas (sit-ins) are
more difficult to continue and make a success of, compared to jalsas (large
public gatherings). Tired of the stalemate with his D-Chowk dharna, Imran Khan
figured he’d branch out into the jalsa business. Karachi was treated to a
mammoth jalsa as were Lahore and Mianwali. Noticing his dharna had gotten a bit
old, Tahirul Qadri has planned a jalsa. And like the polio virus the jalsa
virus is spreading. Bilawal Bhutto has taken some intensive Urdu lessons so he
can scream at the Karachi PPP jalsa soon. Bilawal still needs to work on his
genders, something his mother also struggled with. And the MQM need never
worry; they have the corner on the market on jalsas. It never fails to amaze me
that people from all walks of life sit for hours listening to alternately
roaring and hissing Altaf Hussain, manic or somnolent, singing, reprimanding,
praising or blackmailing a sea of his supporters.
As though high unemployment,
hunger and disease were not enough to paralyze Pakistan, Eid brings five days
of leave from work. Political leaders call for Day of Sorrow or Day of Fury
type strikes for a minimum of two days and Pakistan seems to be a nation on a
perpetual vacation.
I was in Karachi when
Benazir Bhutto was killed. The city’s paralysis defied the mind. Many citizens
get groceries on a daily basis and they suddenly faced hunger for days. The
Islamabad dharnas have paralyzed governmental functioning and Pakistan is
losing billions of rupees in numerous ways. The jalsas in various cities
compromise the functioning of an already oppressed population even more. Opposition
parties always do what they do best: oppose. The responsibility for government
lies with the party in power. And the onus of resolution for the sake of the
nation also lies with the ruling party.
Prime ministers and
presidents sometimes begin to live in a severe and serious state of disconnect
with the people. It appears that the Sharifs are deaf and blind, evidenced by
the statements of the brothers as well as the tweets of Maryam Nawaz. For her
to tweet that security has been ordered to beat citizens who shout “go Nawaz
go” is as ridiculous as Queen Marie Antoinette allegedly saying “let them eat
cake” when she was told that the French people did not even have bread to eat.
Enough is really
enough. The Sharifs should try to resolve this, not just for the sake of
Pakistan or the PMLN but primarily for themselves. An interim government, a
thorough and rapid election investigation as well as mid-term elections are
compelling needs. The backlash against VIP culture and the steadily rising
frustration and fury of the people might be a trailer for bloody civil
disorder. We must avoid that at all costs. Even the cost of the crown.
