
A child receives the polio vaccine. Demotix/Rajput Yasir. All rights reserved.
A couple of
years ago, it seemed as if polio was on the verge of eradication, thanks to
the Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched in 1988. Much has changed in
the last three years. In May of this year, the World Health Organization
declared a public health emergency (only the second time the agency has made
such an extraordinary declaration) regarding the spread of the polio virus. It identified Pakistan, Syria, and Cameroon as three countries which posed maximum danger in this regard.
Consequently, it slapped travel restrictions on all residents and long-term
visitors (not merely children who are most susceptible to it) from these
countries, who are now required to receive a dose of a polio vaccine prior to
their international travel. Even more worryingly, this emergency was declared
towards the end of polio’s ‘low transmission season’.
A large portion of those infected by polio do not even know it and experience
no symptoms, although they can still pass the disease to others. Those who are
affected by it suffer from anything ranging from sore throats, fever, and
vomiting to severe muscle weakness, loss of reflexes, and flaccid paralysis.
Pakistan is one of the biggest sources of the polio strains, containing about
80 percent of all the newly infected. While Pakistan used to have a
well-functioning polio immunization programme, this programme has suffered a
severe downturn. In no small part, the hunt for Osama bin Laden has contributed
to it.
Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in May 2011. A crucial element in this
operation was the setting up of a fake polio vaccination program. The CIA used
the services of Dr. Shakil Afridi, a doctor from Khyber, to gain entrance into
the Abbottabad house of Bin Laden and collect DNA samples from his family
members. Dr. Afridi obliged (without the knowledge of the Pakistani government)
and this allowed the CIA to match the collected DNA with DNA samples from Bin
Laden’s sister (who died in Boston in 2010). The positive DNA match boosted the
CIA’s confidence that Bin Laden was living in the Abbottabad compound, and
contributed to the decision to launch the high-risk operation without the
knowledge of the Pakistani government. The discovery and killing of Bin Laden brought ridicule upon the Pakistani military establishment, which had
vehemently denied his presence. The establishment struck back by charging
Dr. Afridi with various crimes. He is now imprisoned.
A more serious issue pertains to the consequences of revealing information
about the fake polio vaccination programme. This has allowed various militant
organizations to violently oppose it, including by murdering polio vaccination
teams. The world is now suffering the consequences of the derailment of
Pakistan’s polio programme.
The hunt for Bin Laden required the intelligence agencies to deploy all kinds
of resources. There is a rich history of US intelligence agencies using
American foundations focused on humanitarian work for intelligence gathering. But it is well known that public health programmes often encounter scepticism from the publics that they
are trying to aid. This is true across the world. And this scepticism is partially
rooted in misconceptions about vaccination. But the actions of the US fatally undermined
the credibility of all humanitarian programs, as an alliance of 200 US
humanitarian aid groups noted in a letter to the CIA director David Petraeus in
March 2012.
There are clear rules in the conduct of war. Medics and Red Cross personnel are
not supposed to be fired upon and, at the same time, are not supposed to be used
for combat tasks. We need similar rules for intelligence gathering,
specifically rules which prohibit the use of humanitarian efforts for
intelligence purposes. Otherwise, humanitarian efforts will begin to be viewed
as partisan affairs, and face local opposition.
The killing of Bin Laden was a significant achievement for the US intelligence
agencies. Yet, they must recognise and learn from its unanticipated
consequences as well. Public health crises contribute to state failures. In
turn, such states may well provide havens for terrorist groups, and the latter
will eventually return to haunt US security.
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