Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Nigeria is haunted by what seems to be an inevitable dead end in eradicating the Poliovirus. False information and an overall fear of vaccinations has turned into guerrilla warfare when battling the poliovirus, rather than one common goal against it. Civilians do not know where to turn as they either fear that the vaccination is harmful or are skeptical of those giving out the doses. Without proper information and so many rumors circulating, it is impossible to have any cohesion to stop this virus. Many get hung up on the possibility of paralysis or death due to vaccine, when in fact the virus harms/kills much more annually. Therefore the only effort to be made is to somehow reach out and capture the attention of Nigerian civilians to stand against this virus once and for all. Without common trust or reliable information, these people are at the mercy of the rescuers around them to make decisions for what is best for themselves and their families.

There is no “Art of Eradicating Polio”, groups affected by violence and dishonesty will almost forever stay reluctant- as seen in Nigeria. Nigeria’s corruption has created great division within the country. Trusted officials have spread rumors stating that Polio vaccines lead to a widespread of health problems. Other “theories” have spread such as the widely believed rumor that “Westerners are trying to eradicate the Muslim population” with the vaccine. There are a multitude of hate crimes connected to the vaccine such as bombings, murders, and shootings. These unfortunate conditions will only bread for resilience, therefore keeping Polio an ongoing issue.  

The spread of polio certainly will never come to an end if people choose not to get vaccinated. With such little amount of cases of polio may seem good, it is still out in the world. The main factor as to why this virus is still around is because of those who choose not to get vaccinated. Just because polio isn’t in America doesn’t mean the virus is less deadly in children. By getting the vaccine would help the chance of spreading the disease. People also fear vaccines because of possible injuries or illnesses. In countries like Nigeria, the citizens don’t trust the vaccine. It is unfortunate to see children get such a horrendous disease because of misinformation.

The art of eradicating polio is becoming an increasingly difficult task plagued by instability and counter efforts in the last remaining polio strongholds. Nigeria, one of the remaining strongholds, is plagued by violence caused by a overlapping mess of cultures and ethnics groups. Combined with a discredited and powerless government makes the work all but impossible for a handpicked team of specialists tasked with administering vaccines door to door everyday. This team has become the target of many attacks and efforts to thwart the vaccination effort due to propaganda spread groups and people not convinced that their intentions are good. Due to this vaccination efforts are becoming increasingly difficult as instability and effort against the vaccination become more prominent.

Haruna Katata

The extermination of polio is increasingly difficult because of the result of fear-mongering within Nigeria. Haruna Kaita, a professor of pharmacy at Ahmadu Bello University, is known for spreading false information against the polio vaccine. There have been misconceptions stating that the vaccine contained birth control, HIV, birth defecting or, cancerous substances. This has created propaganda within the Muslim community fearing that the polio vaccine might be an intended American genocide against them. Although Kaita has recognized his bad influence, fear-mongering the polio vaccine is a never-ending battle within the Nigerian community. It is detrimental to the lives of Muslims because it stops the overall positive influence within groups to choose to be vaccinated.

Polio disease has effected the human population before twentieth century began. This disease causes permanent paralysis which hinders the nervous system inactive and has a slight chance of one’s death to occur. Its influence has spread from poor neighborhoods in India to even war-torn area created by war itself in Afghanistan.

But the main reason for Polio continuing to be widespread as it is today by people ignoring the use of vaccines provides training for white blood cells to fight off polio better than unvaccinated white blood cells. The vaccine rarely cause paralysis which is one out of 3 million people can get it. The distrust between the human populous and health organization. One instance of the distrust was in Nigeria by its contaminated fluid would play into the idea of eradicating Muslims living there which this reaction made the Nigeria Government to close down vaccine exports.

The provision of vaccines affected how many people are used to conspiracies that vaccines are dangerous and could cause side effects such as autism. The non-profit organizations and governments need everyone informed of this vaccine openly to the public that can save lives and give evidence of the vaccine helping people through the scientific method to prove the conspiracist wrong.