THE CONTEXT OF INCREASING RESISTANCE TO POLIO VACCINATIONS AMONG THE PASHTUN COMMUNITY IN RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC AND QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Polio has successfully been eliminated from most of the world by immunizations. Pakistan, however, is one of the three countries on the globe where polio remains endemic. Much of this failure to eradicate polio from Pakistan has been attributed to increasing resistance to polio vaccinations in Pakistan (Waheed, 2018). Within Pakistan, research indicates that the Pashtun community has the highest resistance to polio vaccinations (Khan et al.,2020). Therefore, we conducted ethnographic observations with Pashtun families and polio staff and in-depth interviews with the polio staff to explore the barriers and facilitators shaping the decision to accept or reject the polio vaccines among the Pashtun community Rawalpindi. Preliminary analysis shows that the polio program’s vertical nature creates pressure on the polio staff to have maximum coverage of the eligible children for oral polio vaccine (OPV). This pressure causes the interactions between the polio staff and the families to be unpleasant. Families who decline OPV feel the label as a “refusal” is dehumanizing.