The Battle to Eradicate Polio: How a Pakistani Doctor’s Determination Helped Achieve a Global Vaccination Goal Despite Extremist Efforts

The eradication of polio has been a major triumph in global vaccination efforts. This debilitating disease, which primarily afflicts children and can lead to paralysis or death, is now only found in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dr. Shahzad Baig, the national coordinator of Pakistan’s polio-eradication program, has played a pivotal role in the fight against this disease. Since assuming his position, the number of polio cases in Pakistan has drastically decreased, with just six cases reported in 2023 compared to 147 cases in 2019. The ultimate goal is to completely eliminate polio by 2026.

In 2011, leading up to Osama bin Laden’s demise, the CIA conducted a covert door-to-door vaccination campaign in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden was hiding, to obtain DNA samples from his family. This operation resulted in increased suspicion and rumors that polio vaccinations were part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslim girls. As a result, more than 200 vaccine workers were murdered by Islamist extremists between 2012 and 2016. Baig stated that the days of extremists impeding polio eradication efforts are over. Under his leadership, the Pakistani government has mobilized an astonishing 400,000 vaccinators and 80,000 security personnel to administer vaccines to over 90 million children in 2023, with another 24 million set for vaccination in the spring.

Prior to his work in Pakistan