Did CIA’s Fake Polio Vaccination Program in Pakistan Help Fuel a Global Health Emergency? | Democracy Now!
Did CIA’s Fake Polio Vaccination Program in Pakistan Help Fuel a Global Health Emergency? | Democracy Now!
The World Health Organization has designated the spread of polio in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East a global public health emergency
requiring a coordinated "international response." Three countries pose
the greatest risk of further spreading the paralyzing virus: Pakistan,
Cameroon and Syria. In an unusual step, the WHO
recommended all residents of those countries, of all ages, to be
vaccinated before traveling abroad. The organization also said another
seven countries — Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq,
Israel, Nigeria and Somalia — should "encourage" all their would-be
travelers to get vaccinated. Until recently, polio had been nearly
eradicated thanks to a 25-year campaign that vaccinated billions of
children. In Pakistan, the increase in polio is being linked to a secret
CIA ploy used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. With the help of a Pakistani doctor, the CIA set up a fake vaccination campaign in the city of Abbottabad in an effort to get DNA
from the bin Laden family. The Taliban subsequently announced a ban on
immunization efforts and launched a string of deadly attacks on medical
workers. We are joined by two guests: Rafia Zakaria, a columnist for
Dawn, Pakistan’s largest English newspaper, who has been covering the
rise of polio in Pakistan since the bin Laden raid; and one of
Pakistan’s leading polio experts, Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta.
