{"id":237,"date":"2012-03-28T15:23:05","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T19:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/?page_id=237"},"modified":"2012-05-27T17:27:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-27T21:27:24","slug":"polio-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/polio-in-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Polio in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Case Study: Polio in Pakistan and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative<\/h2>\n

This section focuses on polio in Pakistan and international efforts to eradicate\u00a0the\u00a0disease from the region. This section will serve as an introduction to polio, Pakistan, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The News Analysis<\/a> looks at the ways in which various news sources use social media and photography to report on polio in Pakistan. The Career Biography<\/a> section examines Svea Closser’s work with public health in Pakistan. Finally, the Anthropological Analysis<\/a> will compare Closser’s findings to media reports and examine any consequences that arise from the\u00a0discrepancies.<\/p>\n

Poliomyelitis<\/h2>\n

Polio<\/a>, or poliomyelitis, is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the human nervous system. Once infected, a person can experience total and irreversible paralysis within just a few hours (World Health Organization, Media Center, 2012). Only 1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis and among that population, about 5-10% die of paralyzed breathing muscles. Other symptoms include vomiting, neck stiffness, headache, muscle spasms, pain in the limbs, fever, drooling, mood swings, and fatigue.<\/p>\n

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Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age, who are also the main target of global vaccination campaigns. Although the vaccine, if administered\u00a0repeatedly\u00a0and\u00a0correctly, can prevent infection for life, there is no cure for polio.<\/p>\n

The effects of polio can extend far beyond the infected individual. Areas with high polio presence\u00a0experience\u00a0decreased productivity\u00a0because\u00a0of increased incidence of physical limitations.<\/p>\n

Polio is spread via person-to-person contact or in an oral-fecal manner, meaning people contract the poliovirus when they come into contact with infected mucus, phlegm, feces, or contaminated food\/water (Perlstein, 2012). For this reason, polio is able to spread quickly\u00a0through\u00a0areas with poor sanitation and limited access to safe water.<\/p>\n

Vaccinations<\/h2>\n

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There are two types of vaccines available to protect against polio: inactive polio vaccines (IVP) and oral polio vaccines (OVP). A person is considered fully immune when they have\u00a0received\u00a0no less than three doses of IPV or OPV, or four doses of IPV and OPV in combination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).<\/p>\n

The polio vaccination is an attenuated vaccine, which means it contains a live virus. The polio virus is weakened so that it stimulates the body’s immune system but does not actually cause the disease (UNICEF, 2012).<\/p>\n

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative<\/h2>\n

The Global Polio Eradication\u00a0Initiative<\/a> was officially launched in 1988 at the 41st World Health Assembly<\/a>\u00a0and by 1998, all polio-endemic\u00a0countries\u00a0were carrying out mass vaccination campaigns. The World Health Organization<\/a>, Rotary International<\/a>, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, and the United Nations Children’s Fund<\/a> lead the project’s funding, planning, implementation, and evaluation.<\/p>\n

The following map displays the\u00a0countries\u00a0with polio in 1988 and 2010. India no longer has cases of polio, so, as of 2012, there are only three countries that still report active cases of polio.<\/p>\n

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The objectives of the Polio Eradication\u00a0Initiative are as follows:<\/p>\n