Political Adversity and Eradicating Polio: The Common Denominator

by Olivia Fletcher and Happy Ghosh

Before the appearance of AIDS, the United States was plagued by fear of another prominent and terrifying disease – a disease that had been infecting humans and leaving many of them incredibly disabled since early written history. Early in the 20th century, Poliomyelitis was responsible for paralyzing thousands of children annually and the American people were terrified. The first polio epidemic in the US hit in 1894 but it wasn’t until 1908 that the idea of this illness being caused by a virus surfaced. Soon after, another epidemic hit in Brooklyn, New York during the summer of 1916. Polio continued to instill fear in the public. Over the next few decades, the iron lung was invented, the March of Dimes was born, and scientists were beginning to make headway on growing and culturing the poliovirus. In 1952, nearly 60,000 polio cases were reported in the US and more than a third of them were paralytic. This event further heightened the awareness of the need for a vaccine. However, while we seemed to be making progress in the fight against polio, we were continuing to stagnate in the fight for civil rights.

Notice that these dates mentioned above coincide with so much of the instability and unrest that defined the American 20th century – specifically World War I and the Civil Rights Movement. There seemed to be a notion that polio was a “white disease” as it did not infect an equal number of blacks proportionate to the population, and various treatment centers – most notably the Georgia Warm Springs polio rehabilitation center – maintained a whites-only policy. The Tuskegee Institute eventually opened a polio center as black health professionals and black polio survivors alike demanded that health care be provided without regard for color. Then the polio vaccine was released in 1954 and by 1980, the United States had seen its last case of polio. Is it a coincidence that polio reared its head during a time of such social and political instability? Though wars fought during this time were not on American soil, there is no doubt that the consequences were deeply felt by the American people. Was the civil rights movement not a type of war in itself? And is it just chance that the only three countries with polio left on this planet are countries that have been plagued by so much unrest?

As Dr. Pate mentioned in his lecture, the complexities of its social and political structure made it difficult to implement, and particularly, to enforce health policy in Nigeria. The fight to eradicate polio was faced with much political backlash and even acts of terrorism, often hindering any advancement . Pakistan, too, came close to eliminating Polio in 2012, but vaccination bans and attacks on fieldworkers by the Pakistani Taliban reversed the progress. Similarly, Afghanistan registered only 25 cases of polio in 2010, yet was also confronted by setbacks due to the resistance of militants and the death of yet another polio worker. It may feel like déjà vu, but the multitude of underlying causes for political dissension and fears regarding the role of the West in the polio campaign have manifested themselves in the same way.

Perhaps the parallels between the problems defining the polio battle in the U.S. and those of Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan today are coincidence, but it is difficult to argue that this common denominator shows no correlation. One solution will not meet the needs of all countries, but Dr. Pate's successful efforts prove the importance of persistence and starting from the ground up. The time he spent travelling to individual communities and making personal connections makes it clear that his investment was personal. Will Afghanistan and Pakistan achieve success by finding their own Muhammad Pate? How can Nigeria retain its momentum and finish out the race? Though the future holds no certainty, I am confident that the end to polio is near.

Note the overlap between Boko Haram activity and low immunization rates.