Pakistan calls on Facebook to suppress misinformation on polio vaccine

Pakistan urged Facebook to abolish the social networking site for polio-damaging content on Friday, saying it undermined polio eradication efforts and endangered the lives of vaccinators.

Polio vaccination campaigns have been facing persistent resistance for years in Pakistan.

In recent months, Pakistani social media has been inundated with fake reports and videos, which garnered thousands of views and shared just last week, claiming that many children had been killed by the polio vaccine.

Thousands of parents refused to allow their children's inoculation.

The Prime Minister's correspondent for the eradication of polio, Babar Bin Atta, said that he had asked "Facebook officials to block and / or manage the spread of such propaganda." vaccination from their platforms operating in Pakistan ". https://t.co/mCgTGk0aGp

– Annie (@ quratula1n_s) May 4, 2019

"Parents' refusals due to Facebook propaganda about the vaccine are becoming the main obstacle to the complete eradication of the virus," said Babar Atta, who helps oversee the country's vaccination campaign, in a statement.

Atta asked "Facebook officials to block and / or manage the spread of such anti-vaccination propaganda from their platforms operating in Pakistan."

At least three people were killed in the last national polio campaign in April.

The violence coincided with an epidemic of hysteria in cities in northwestern Pakistan after rumors about children suffering from polio vaccine-related adverse events triggered panic and that tens of thousands of people rushed to hospitals.

Last week, about 10,000 refusals of vaccination were reported daily in Islamabad, against 200 to 300 in the previous campaign, according to figures from the country's anti-polio program.

Opposition to a myriad of inoculations exploded after the CIA staged a fake vaccination campaign to find al-Qaeda group leader, Osama bin Laden, in the garrison city of Abbottabad. , where US forces then killed the militant leader in 2011.

Some Taliban and extremist religious figures are known to stir up rumors that vaccines contain ingredients banned by Islam, such as pork derivatives, or that can cause infertility in the course of life. a plot to reduce the population.

Attacks by militants have also been frequent: nearly 100 people have been killed in badaults targeting vaccine teams since 2012.

Despite the opposition, activists have reported progress with tens of millions of vaccinated children across the country and a 96% decline in reported polio cases since 2014.

But as Pakistan moves closer to its goal of eliminating polio from its territory, new headwinds have risen in the midst of a growing global movement against immunization.

In addition to Pakistan, poliomyelitis is endemic in two other countries of the world: Afghanistan and Nigeria, although a relatively rare strain was also detected in Papua New Guinea last year.