BackGeography of a virus
World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the resurgence of polio an international public health emergency
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The successful fight against polio was considered one of the great medical achievements of the 20th century. It has now returned with a vengeance. The World Health Organization has declared the resurgence of polio an international public health emergency.
Two sets of countries are especially at risk. One, conflict-prone states like Pakistan and Syria. Two, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria and Afghanistan pose the risk of exporting the new, wild strains of the virus.
The biggest danger for the renewed spread of polio, however, comes from Pakistan, Syria and Cameroon. Of these, the first two have virtually no medical infrastructure to cope with the disease.
Pakistan and Syria have regimes that are caught in insurgencies they generated in the first place. The health and life of citizens come low in the priority list of these regimes.
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