© Muhammed Muheisen/AP
An Afghan refugee child held by his brother receives a polio vaccine from a Pakistani health worker on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Standing in line at the airport security last year, a poster caught my eye.
"We are this close to ending polio", Jackie Chan was saying, showing a small gap with his fingers. You could find Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, and Itzhak Perlman doing the same on billboards around the world. There was even a
Gangnam Style version of the poster. A year later that small gap that celebrities were demonstrating with their hands seems to be widening, with a speed that now gives reason for alarm.
The World Health Organization
(WHO) declared polio as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 5, 2014. The number of cases has increased significantly this year and, according to the WHO, particularly in conflict-stricken areas, like the Middle-East and Central Asia. One of the main concerns is that the virus has re-appeared in areas where the disease had been eradicated. For instance, Syria was polio-free for 14 years until an outbreak started in 2013.
Polio and Cold War
The history of polio vaccination has been riddled with conflict. The
Sabin vaccine itself, which is used today in eradication efforts, was developed in the midst of a global political crisis: the Cold War.
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