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It is ironic that a developing country has been able to deal with a crisis like this better than many first world nations. Could it be that it is simply more used to handling disasters? In this case, Pakistan’s misfortunes have proved to be its strengths.
Pakistan is one of just three countries where polio still strikes the vulnerable — the others being Afghanistan and Nigeria. Polio eradication has been a challenge because so many Pakistanis are illiterate and therefore ignorant of the real causes.
They may refuse vaccination, often in favour of prayer or folk cures. Although Pakistan has also failed to deliver medical assistance in areas where it is most needed, due to its poor health infrastructure, it has vowed to eradicate polio within the coming two years.
It has established systems to track the infection, making meticulous records of affected families within various community clusters. There also are now many female community health workers who administer the polio vaccine.
The WHO reports that Pakistan has used these existing systems to also keep tabs on the coronavirus. Director Tedros Ghebreyesus said that “Community health workers who have been trained to go door to door vaccinating children for polio have been utilized for surveillance, contact tracing and care.”
Pakistan has been cordoning off infected areas in targeted “smart lockdowns”. Traffic in and out of such clusters is greatly restricted. Other countries, like Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea have also used existing infrastructure, having the experience of other viruses like SARS.