Persistent polio in Pakistan threatens eradication efforts

A Pakistani health worker vaccinates a child against polio, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 9, 2014.

Pakistan’s beleaguered battle to eradicate polio is threatening a global, multi-billion dollar campaign to wipe out the disease worldwide.

Because of Pakistan, the virus is spreading to countries that were previously polio free, say U.N officials.

“The largest poliovirus reservoir of the world,” is in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization.

Pakistan

A Pakistani beggar, who has been affected by polio, receives money from a commuter on a street in Islamabad, Feb. 11, 2014.

Militant attacks and threats of violence have badly affected efforts to stamp out the crippling disease in Pakistan, one of only three countries where it remains endemic.

Peshawar

Pakistani police officers stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Islamabad

A Pakistani health worker marks a newborn baby's finger after administering polio vaccine drops during a door-to-door polio immunization campaign on the outskirts of Islamabad, Jan. 22, 2014.

Peshawar

A health worker vaccinates a child against polio, in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Peshawar

Mohammad Wasil, kisses a photograph of his 19-year-old son, Hilal, a polio worker who was killed by militants, at his home in Peshawar, Jan. 28, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child during a polio immunization campaign in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani policeman, left, stands guard as a health worker vaccinates a child against polio, in Peshawar, Feb. 9, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani health worker marks a sign on the door of a house to let others know that the home has been visited by health workers, who have given a polio vaccine to a child living there, in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani health worker vaccinates a child against polio, in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani health worker marks the finger of a child after giving her a polio vaccine, in Peshawar, Feb. 2, 2014.

Peshawar

A Pakistani health worker marks a sign on a wall to let others know that the home has been visited by health workers, who have given a polio vaccine to a child living there, in Peshawar, Feb. 9, 2014.

Peshawar

Pakistani health workers vaccinate children against polio, in Peshawar, Feb. 9, 2014.

Peshawar

Samia Gul holds her 11-month-old daughter, Shaista, while doing her laundry at her home in Peshawar, Jan. 30, 2014. Shaista contracted the polio virus and was unable to stand, her legs buckling beneath her weight.

Her mother cries a lot and wonders what will become of her daughter, already at a disadvantage in Pakistan’s male-dominated society.