Search

The deputy commissioner of Pakistan’s South Waziristan Lower district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province posted an announcement of an agreement among tribal council leaders to end the polio boycott. The news comes after several local groups earlier in March called for polio boycotts amid reports that 14 districts across the country had detected poliovirus. Most of the responses to the social media post were positive.

A recent social media post announced a polio vaccine campaign for children up to 14 years old in Tshopo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In response, some commenters asked why older children needed polio vaccines. One post claimed polio vaccines kill children, and another called polio vaccination “a hoax.”

Online posts asked Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan to give their children polio drops. One comment called polio drops “evil” and warned Muslim parents to protect their children. Some posts called polio drops “useless” and a “disease.” Others said that other diseases are more important than polio.