Michael Gerson: Taliban's attacks on vaccines paralyze children as a war strategy
And even in an atmosphere of suspicion in Pakistan, parental refusal of the polio vaccine for their children is a relatively small part of the problem — accounting for less than 2 percent of the total number of children approached in most of the country. "The bigger issue to tackle," says Jay Wenger, director of the Gates Foundation's polio program, "is the effectiveness and efficiency of the vaccine delivery program. ... Improving its quality is still the biggest barrier."
That delivery program is precisely what the Taliban are targeting in their recent escalation. And they would make use of any excuse. They sack the world and history for grievances to justify murder. And now they intentionally paralyze children as a strategy of war.
Michael Gerson's email address is michaelgerson@washpost.com.
- Top scandals and controversies of each United...
- In our opinion: Scouting success will come...
- My view: Why moderates lost the caucus vote
- Top scandals and controversies of each US...
- In our opinion: Big screen exploitation of...
- Letters: No welfare, ever
- Lois M. Collins: Kids' summer 'bucket list'...
- Tolerance and the same-sex marriage debate
Subscribe
Mobile
RSS
- Letters: No welfare, ever
63 - Letters: Deception and government 31
- Letter: The real death panel:... 30
- My view: Why moderates lost the caucus... 27
- Tolerance and the same-sex marriage debate 26
- In our opinion: Big screen exploitation... 25
- Letters: Paycheck Fairness Act 21
- Matthew Sanders: Imploding trust in... 20
I'm grateful that Rotary International at least received passing mention in the article. Rotary was and is the driving force behind the eradication of polio in the world. Since the inception of Rotarys efforts to eradicate polio, beginning in More..
Yet right here in America, we have many parents who refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated because they imagine some kind of evil government plot behind it all.
When I was teaching, we had a family that would not allow More..
Are you sure that photo is from Pakistan? They don't at all like the typical Pakistani protestors that I see in all the stories about someone, somewhere burning a Quran. Plus this crowd is a lot smaller.
I guess that in their mind, More..