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    Why It's So Hard To Wipe Out Polio In Pakistan

    A report from the front lines. Obstacles range from violence aimed at vaccinators to social media campaigns against vaccines. Not to mention classism.
    by Diaa Hadid May 26, 2018 5 minutes
    A Pakistani health worker administers the oral polio vaccine to a child during a campaign in Karachi on May 7. Because of past attacks on vaccinators, security personnel are often assigned to accompany them.

    Two young women burst through the door of a health center in a Pakistani slum. One woman sobs. The other tries to explain what just happened.

    Nida, 21, and Sahar, 19, are front-line vaccinators — a small but essential role in Pakistan's enormous effort to eradicate the virus. They were going down alleys knocking door-to-door, administering polio vaccine drops to children, when a man pulled out a gun, slammed Nida over the head, snatched her bag and ran away. (Nida and Sahar asked that their last names not be used to protect their safety.)

    This slum, in the working-class city of Rawalpindi, is "a high-risk area," says Nosherwan Khan, a member of Pakistan's National PolioPlus Committee, which is affiliated with Rotary International.

    "It might be criminal activity.

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