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KABUL
(Agencies): UN workers are facing a new challenge in their battle to
eradicate polio from Afghanistan convincing villagers in remote areas
that the campaign isn’t a sterilization plot hatched by Western “infidels.”Although
workers have successfully reduced the number of polio cases in
Afghanistan - only two have been reported this year compared to 11 last
year - suspicion of Westerners is making it difficult to convince some
parents to have their children immunized, aid workers say.
“This vaccine weakens the reproductive system of men and women,” said
Haji Abdul Nadir, a 47-year-old businessman in Kandahar.
“The majority of the people think it’s a campaign from the infidels.
They’re trying to stop the Muslim generation.” Although some
countries have eradicated polio, the crippling disease continues to
haunt Afghanistan.
The country’s deserts, rocky mountains and landmine-studded roads
make it difficult for medical aid workers to reach isolated settlements.
Distrust has also complicated the work.
Afghans have a long tradition resisting what they consider foreign
interference or domination, most notably against the Soviets in the
1980s war.
Some aid workers say the suspicion of Westerners has risen because of
botched U.S. military operations, including a July 1 airstrike in
Uruzgan province, which have caused civilian casualties.
“We’re not armed, so often when we go to these remote villages we
have to make them see that we’re from the United Nations,” said Douglas
G.
Higgins, a program officer for UNICEF, which is coordinating the
immunization campaign.
“Often, the only defense that we have are these,” he said, pointing
to the circular UNICEF emblem on his beige vest.
As an effort to reach high-risk districts in southern Afghanistan,
UNICEF coordinated a three-day “mop-up” immunization campaign, which
concluded Thursday.
Workers were able to reach an estimated 85,000 children under 5.
Another campaign is set to begin in September.
“Doctors tell me it’s a good thing and I believe it,” said
25-year-old Rangeena of Kandahar, who only uses one name, as her
children received two drops of the orange-colored vaccine on Thursday
outside their adobe house.

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