Polio returns to Nigeria
Two years after the last previous case and only one year from declaring Nigeria polio-free, two children have been diagnosed with the crippling virus.
They are going to immediately begin immunizing 5 million children in the affected region.
Coincidentally, that area has been the epicenter of an insurgency waged by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million since their fight began in 2009. During Boko Haram’s time in Borno, the group has been responsible for destroying hundreds of health centers, and has caused so much damage in some areas that it has become hard for vaccinators to do their jobs effectively.
One can’t help wondering if these new cases occurred because of this Islamic insurgency.
Posted on the road from Tucson to the Grand Canyon.
Two years after the last previous case and only one year from declaring Nigeria polio-free, two children have been diagnosed with the crippling virus.
They are going to immediately begin immunizing 5 million children in the affected region.
Coincidentally, that area has been the epicenter of an insurgency waged by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million since their fight began in 2009. During Boko Haram’s time in Borno, the group has been responsible for destroying hundreds of health centers, and has caused so much damage in some areas that it has become hard for vaccinators to do their jobs effectively.
One can’t help wondering if these new cases occurred because of this Islamic insurgency.
Posted on the road from Tucson to the Grand Canyon.