Follow the polio trail to catch a terrorist

Whether polio vaccinators managed to reach Osama bin Laden’s brood of children when he lived in the caverns of Tora Bora in Afghanistan may never be known. But here is a tip for secret agents on the India-Pakistan-Afghanistan beat. To hunt down a fugitive, to sniff out a hideaway, follow the polio vaccinator.
The drive against polio is on its last lap — the world’s success in eradicating this crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease now hinges mainly on four countries — Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan — all with very  young populations. And “reaching the unreached” has become the hip, happening part of the frontline health worker’s beat.

The knock on every single door in the community to ensure that all children under the age of five have received the vaccine is not confined to deserts, mountain passes or dirt tracks leading to mud huts without electricity in remote, rural patches. Sometimes, even those in big houses with huge cars in the heart of a swank hill station can be unreachable, as a certain woman polio vaccinator in Abbottabad, Pakistan, discovered.

The house where Osama bin Laden lived had high walls, expensive SUVs parked inside, and some 23 children, according to an Associated Press (AP) reporter. The inmates ordered Coke and Pepsi by the crateful, but oddly enough, were unwelcoming to a health worker. The men behind the high walls took the vaccines and asked her to leave, the polio vaccinator confided to the AP reporter.

The polio trail had led to the doorstep of the world’s most wanted terrorist but alas, there was no follow-up visit. So we don’t know how many children inside that house were below five and if they had taken all the doses of the polio vaccine?

Arguably, not every house with shadowy inmates and shady goings-on has children below five who need to be vaccinated against polio. But then regular folks, with or without children, who need to be vaccinated against polio do not turn away health workers from their doorsteps. As far as I know, regular folks, whether in Abbottabad or Ajmer, would also return footballs flung into their garden by neighbourhood children instead of offering them money to buy replacements. Generally speaking, regular folks have no problems answering a few questions posed by a health worker. If someone does, it is time to find out why.
What can those looking for terror chieftains and their deputies learn from polio warriors?

Polio often thrives in conflict zones, where there is weak governance, pools of illiteracy, social exclusion. That is where rumour becomes a potent force. For example, polio cases jumped in Pakistan in 2007 as clerics declared vaccination an American plot. It is tempting to blame religion for the mess. But Islamic scholars and clerics in so many places are also doing everything to motivate their community to get children immunised against polio.

All those children in that house in Abbottabad may or may not have been vaccinated against polio. But most families who resist polio vaccines are not in Osama’s situation. They are unlikely to be found in mansions with SUVs and more likely to be craving for clean water than crates of Pepsi or Coke.

The main issue is that in the battle against polio, no distinction can be made. No child - rich or poor - can be left behind in the polio vaccination drive as even one infected child is a danger to the community.

This year, India has reported only one case of polio. But viruses can cross borders as easily as terrorists and are just as dangerous. Due to the massive floods of 2010 in Pakistan that affected over 20 million people and areas of conflict where access to health services is limited, there has been resurgence in the number of polio cases in that country.

Last month, health authorities in Punjab announced their decision to start administering polio vaccines to children below five who were coming in from Pakistan through the Wagah land route and by the Samjhauta Express at the Attari railway station.
In these sabre-rattling times, the talk of cross-border terror inflames passions both in Pakistan and in India. But health can be a coolant and a bridge for peace in conflict zones.  The two countries, along with Afghanisthan, are critical to the global fight against polio. A good starting point: discussions between their polio warriors on how they can fight the virus together.

Patralekha Chatterjee is a Delhi-based writer and can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com