Chasing Down Polio
Polio is on the ropes. Thanks to vigorous vaccination efforts around the world, there are only three countries left where polio is endemic: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. NPR looks at how these nations are fighting to wipe out the virus, once and for all.
Children in a Lahore slum after heavy rains. The slum has a large population of Pashtuns who came from Pakistan's lawless tribal regions; many carry the polio virus with them.
How The Taliban Is Thwarting The War On Polio
()Polio is deadly, but so is what's required to stamp it out once and for all in Pakistan: facing down Islamist extremists. The virus thrives in Pakistan's lawless — and largely inaccessible — tribal regions. To stop polio's spread, health workers must be courageous, clever and relentless.
