Polio Health Workers Massacred in Nigeria

     Just today, women who are health workers were shot  at. These health workers were going house to house giving out vaccination drives of Polio to the Muslim families who needed it. Polio, also known as infantile paralysis, is a highly infectious viral disease that may attack the central nervous system and can cause a mild non-paralytic infection to total paralysis in a matter of hours. The women were doing their jobs or what they were passionate about and a man came and opened fire on them. Eight to nine women were killed. It is said that this attack "also signaled a new wave of anger targeting immunization drives in Nigeria, where clerics once claimed the vaccines were part of a Western plot to sterilize young girls". This attack is one of many. It was read that in the pass weeks, another attack had occurred in Pakistan. Many who were against these vaccination drives have not really taken action until this year. Many also were skeptic on the vaccination. I understand that many of the people have their doubts, but what I do not understand is how can someone take a life when that life could have save hundreds of lives. The lives of young children could be saved. I would want these women to have longevity due to the fact that "humanity is so very close to eliminating polio from the face of the earth."


Kayla Howard
Submitted: February 8th, 2013 12:30
Source: http://www.undispatch.com/polio-health-workers-massacred-in-nigeria
Other sources: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/polio