The rise in the number of new polio cases has meant they have reached 29, which leaves Pakistan far, along with Afghanistan, from eliminating the disease. If eliminated, it would represent the second widespread virus infection, after smallpox, eliminated by human intervention. Polio is a wasting disease that leaves victims crippled, provided it did not kill them, yet vaccinators and their accompanying guards have been attacked and even killed. Meanwhile, the roll-out of the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine has taken place, but has also been resisted fiercely, with over 3.6 million parents reported as having refused the vaccinations. The vaccine is meant to be administered to young girls to protect them from a disease which could ultimately lead to cervical cancer. The same fears may apply, which are basically religious objections even though the ulema spread the fear have not been approached properly and convinced that the vaccine does not have any of the deleterious effects that are feared. The HPV vaccine is problematic because it directly relates to the female reproductive system, unlike the polio vaccine.
Apart from the need to ensure that HPV vaccinators are guarded, there is a need to ensure that the weaknesses of the polio programme are not repeated. In fact, the polio vaccination programme needs revision. It should be remarked that polio cases had been brought down to 12 in 2018, before spiking to 147 the year after, with a refusal to go down since. Polio has been a public health disaster, because the only known means of eliminating it is by breaking its spread through vaccinations. A recent subnational campaign reached 21 million children under the age of five in 88 districts. The next campaign, in the middle of the month, is expected to reach 45.4 million children.
The really dangerous point of the HPV vaccine campaign will be when it moves from the schools, where it presently is, to the homes, where it will have to go if it is to have any real meaning. It is likely that the same forces which are resisting the polio vaccine, will also resist the HPV vaccine. This means that the government must put both vaccination campaigns high on its list of priorities, and engage exhaustively with its opponents. It could start by identifying those religious scholars sympathetic to their point of view, and engaging them to convince both parents and guardians, and other ulema.
