Analysis
On February 3, a police officer was fatally shot while guarding a group of polio workers in the Jamrud district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack occurred on the first day of Pakistan’s first national polio vaccination drive of 2025. In response to a social media post condemning the attack, some commenters criticized the World Health Organization and blamed polio workers for using a “poisonous jab” to harm children in Pakistan. In a popular social media post, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative encouraged vaccination. The post received 13 million views and over 1,000 responses, including false claims that polio vaccines are poison and accusations that the polio vaccine is “unsafe” and was designed by the “United States, Britain, and Israel” to harm Muslims. Meanwhile, a video clip with over 72,000 views accused a U.S. international aid organization of corrupting Pakistani religious leaders and politicians. Although some comments supported the agency’s work in Pakistan, others repeated the claim that government workers profit from anti-polio funds.
Recommendations
Some people incorrectly believe that anti-polio work is motivated by profit or a desire to harm certain groups of people. To counter these false claims, consider partnering with trusted faith and community leaders to explain that all major religions around the world support vaccines. Messaging may emphasize that many religious leaders believe that it’s through prayer and faith that we have access to the medicines and vaccines that keep our children safe from terrible and incurable diseases like polio. Talking points may also explain that the polio vaccine is very well tested and that billions of children and generations of families worldwide have received it.