What must Pakistan do to beat Polio?

In a world where 193 out of 196 countries have eliminated polio, the question must be asked-what are those last three doing wrong?  Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are the three final countries that still struggle with miscellaneous cases of polio, a disease thats cure was found in 1953. In 2015, access to polio vaccinations in Pakistan has never proven to be more difficult, ironically. With the Taliban occupation of much of northern Pakistan, vaccinations have been banned since 2012. Because of this, numerous medical holdings have been raided, leaving administrators of the vaccine either dead or threatened for their lives. For this reason, many vaccinations must be given in hiding or not given at all. Although the initiative to eradicate polio was created in 1988, Pakistan saw its highest levels of polio cases in 2014, breaking its own level. In a country that is politically in disarray, we see religious extremist groups imposing certain legalities that are essentially pushing progress backwards. With the persistence of polio in their country, many Pakistani's call it their "badge of shame".  With even more terrorist activity hitting the global world, it is interesting to see if the Taliban will tighten its grip on issues such as polio vaccinations, and how the violence could possibly grow. As an American-born Pakistani, I find it tragic that a country which so progressively produced both of my parent's master degrees, allowing them to establish very fruitful lives in the United States, could be struggling with such an archaic disease. With much of Pakistan's military force working to make safer conditions for health workers to administer the vaccination, hope is in the air.

Yoomna Rahim
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30822967