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She sneaks into homes - to secretly vaccinate children.

 

A woman in Pakistan is risking her own life by secretly vaccinating children against the orders of the Taliban.

Pakistan is one of the only countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.

It is home to one of the most infected water supplies on earth — and after nearly succeeding in eradicating the disease three years ago, it has made a resurgence.

As Taliban propaganda continues to spread the notion that vaccinations are a form of biological warfare from the west, people fear their children will be killed by this “American weapon”.

Sadly, polio has no cure, and prevention is the only way to stop it.

One brave woman has decided she isn’t going to stand by while children live increasingly short lives full of pain — and lose the use of their limbs — due to this unfounded belief.

That’s why Fahrina Touseef, aka the ‘Vaccination Vigilante’, travels door-to-door in Pakistan’s capital to administer vaccines to children while their parents aren’t looking.

Ms Touseef travels with two armed police to carry out her mission.

She delivers the anti-polio drops to children in the street and occasionally enters homes if there are no adults around.

“We will go to any extent to vaccinate a child. No matter what we must vaccinate every child,” she told a reporter on SBS’ Dateline.

But Ms Touseef’s work could have her killed, so strong is local opposition to the polio vaccine.

One mother believes said she believes the polio vaccine is “bio-warfare” and believes health workers should be killed.

“If you are defending something and for your defence you kill someone, that is right… they are killing our generations by giving the polio vaccine,” she told Dateline.

Another family believed the vaccine would make their daughters infertile — now the two young girls, Maheen and Mariam, are both infected with polio.

While one of the daughters has a hope of walking, the younger of the two is unlikely to ever gain use of her legs.

This is why Ms Touseef continues her work.

“One day, when Pakistan is free from polio, I will have more time for my family,” she said.

“But right now, my other children need me.”

To date, 80 people have been killed trying to administer the polio vaccine, including two of Ms Touseef’s workers. During the filming of the documentary, four more health workers were killed by the Taliban.

Read more:

Tom and Felicity Harley say this vaccination could save your child’s life.

Anti-vaxxers say vaccination is the same as rape.

“I’ve seen what happens when you don’t vaccinate your child.”

Remember that time you got Polio? No, you don’t. Because you got vaccinated.

Report: Child welfare payments should be dependent on vaccinations.

Do you have a news tip? Email us at news@mamamia.com.au.

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Top Comments

GreenBuzzer 10 years ago

What a nut job . . . !!!


Polly Parsons 10 years ago

Sorry, I got the stats wrong (slightly). Here you go, straight from the horse's mouth:

What are the symptoms of polio?

"Up to about 72% of susceptible persons infected with
polio have no symptoms. However, infected persons without symptoms can
still spread the virus and cause others to develop polio. About 24% of
infected susceptible persons have minor symptoms such as fever, sore
throat, upset stomach, or flu-like symptoms and have no paralysis or
other serious symptoms. About 1-5% develop aseptic meningitis with
stiffness of the back, back, or legs, and in some persons increased or
abnormal sensations a few days after the minor illness resolves. These
symptoms typically last from two to ten days, followed by complete
recovery. Less than 1% of polio cases result in paralysis of the limbs
(usually the legs). Of those cases resulting in paralysis, 5-10% of the
patients die when the respiratory muscles are paralyzed. The risk of
paralysis increases with age."

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines...

Notice how they say some will develop aseptic meningitis? Yep. THAT'S how they "eradicated" polio. They just called it another name.

Thanks, I think I'll take my chances...