Pakistan’s Polio Crisis: The Deeper Story
The world is witnessing a resurgence of the polio virus, and Pakistani is at its epicenter. This year, Pakistan has already reported about 60 cases—far more than any other country. Most observers blame Pakistan’s worsening polio problem on rising militancy. Yet according to Samia Altaf, there is a deeper story beyond this popular narrative.
Overview
The world is witnessing a resurgence of the polio virus, and Pakistani is at its epicenter. This year, Pakistan has already reported about 60 cases—far more than any other country. Most observers blame Pakistan’s worsening polio problem on rising militancy. Yet according to Samia Altaf, there is a deeper story beyond this popular narrative. Altaf, a former Wilson Center Pakistan Scholar, is a medical doctor who has served as a senior advisor on health to USAID in Islamabad. She will present new research highlighting how and why Pakistan’s polio vaccination efforts have been dogged by systemic problems for a decade—long before the Taliban began sabotaging such efforts.
Speaker
Samia Altaf
Former Acting Director and Senior Advisor, Office of Health, USAID Mission in Islamabad, Pakistan
Hosted By
Indo-Pacific Program
The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region. Read more
Maternal Health Initiative
The Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) is dedicated to improving the lives of women, adolescents, and children around the world. MHI convenes experts from around the world to discuss solutions to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and to navigate gender-based global health issues and their links to foreign policy. MHI explores a wide range of policy-related topics, including gender equity, global health, health care workforce and systems, caregiving, gender-based violence, workforce participation, girls’ education, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. MHI is globally focused with additional attention to women and girls living in humanitarian settings. Read more
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