Tag Archives: polio

Lord Eric Avebury writes…Polio and Terrorism

By Eric Avebury | Tue 14th October 2014 - 12:05 pm

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO),has reduced the number paralysed by polio from 350,000 in 1988 to 405 in 2013, and the number of countries where the disease is endemic has been cut from 125 to just 3 –Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. But progress has come to a grinding halt, with Pakistan reporting 174 new cases so far this year out of 193 worldwide.

The WHO says there is a high risk that this highly infectious disease will spread to other parts of the world, paralysing many of its victims.

Three quarters of all cases are reported from two lawless areas of Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP) and the misleadingly named Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In these provinces terrorists call the shots, intimidating and murdering those who don’t agree with their fundamentalist brand of Islam.

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged afghanistan, eric avebury and pakistan | 2 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Mathew on Monday: Ann Widdecombe, robust debate and the need to disagree agreeably (Mathew Hulbert)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)
Observations of an Expat: Visions of America (Tom Arms)
Championing stronger AI resilience: Take-away from ALDE Congress 2026 (Larry Ngan)
Introducing The Grimond Society (Jack Meredith)

Advert

Recent Comments

David Raw
Agree with Mick Taylor, but would also suggest Count Binface is no mug..... he's an Oxford graduate in classics and classical languages, literatures and linguis...
Mick Taylor
Some posters on here are real killjoys. If Binface were to beat Farage it would end Farage's political career. And let's face it, Binface could hardly be a wors...
Jana
A thought just occurred - maybe Farage was hoping to have no serious competition in this by-election as it always his party activists to canvass extensively whi...
David Raw
When a person living within the historical territory of the Duchy of Cornwall dies without a valid will (i.e. intestate) and with no surviving relatives, their ...
Paul Walter
I primarily wrote this piece as a travel blog. But for clarity, while I admire the independence (current overall status) of the Isle of Man, I support a revi...