Xkcd and Bill Gates on Polio Eradication
It's not a case of just carrying on as we were.<p>Here are the pockets of Polio:
<a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/04/gitn_1204_polio.png" rel="nofollow">http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/04/gitn_1204...</a><p>Why?<p>1) Vaccinators can't access some regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan because of violent resistance to Western aid.<p>2) Western vaccines are resisted by Muslim Nigerians who fear Polio vaccines are a Western plot to sterilise Muslims.<p>3) Hajj is a great opportunity for the disease to spread between members of these regions.<p><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/48667/nigeria-muslim-suspicion-of-polio-vaccine-lingers-on" rel="nofollow">http://www.irinnews.org/report/48667/nigeria-muslim-suspicio...</a><p><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150303-polio-pakistan-islamic-state-refugees-vaccination-health/" rel="nofollow">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150303-polio-paki...</a><p>Hearts and minds need to be won or brute force needs to be used, if decades of effort are going to pay off. Until it's eradicated in these regions, we're stuck vaccinating our children to avoid re-establishment of the disease.