Every Last Child

"Misconceptions around the vaccine have led to violent attacks and parental rejection of treatment."

Every Last Child is a documentary film showing the steps taken in Pakistan to eliminate poliomyelitis (polio) infection from the country (one of the remaining endemic countries). It features front-line footage - at checkpoints, aboard buses, along neighbourhood streets - in an effort to convey the campaign's urgency. Polio, which had almost been eradicated from the world, continues to threaten pockets of Pakistan: Peshawar in the north and the Waziristan tribal areas, and spreading south to Karachi. And the Pakistan polio strain has turned up in Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, and China.

The first scene in the film is of a fully armed army unit being told by its captain to get ready for war, but in this case the war is to give protection against the Taliban, who are (ostensibly) obstructing the polio vaccinators. (As the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other organisations, goes door to door administering oral vaccinations to infants, Pakistani Taliban militants have killed dozens of health workers since 2012.)

Polio victims are then profiled: In one scene, a destitute person affected by polio and pushing a dilapidated cart says "I'll be fit in the afterlife"; in another scene, a polio-affected child is getting fitted with braces, with his distressed father (himself an adult victim of polio) watching.

Every Last Child also portrays the efforts made by health care workers, who, in spite of difficulties such as violence, terrorism, mistrust, cynicism, propaganda, and politics, have attempted to protect Pakistani children from polio. One scene features Gulnaz Sherazi, a health worker whose niece and sister-in-law were killed by the Taliban when they were canvassing for vaccination; she still speaks of actively supporting the cause of vaccination.

There are also scenes of propaganda made against the vaccinations, stating perceived ill effects of the polio vaccine such as making "girls prematurely adult and boys impotent." Misunderstandings include perception that the vaccine is a plot on the part of Jews and Christians to eliminate Muslims. In a Karachi cafe, customers (all of whom are men) recite these rumours. One skeptic states: "We are not ready to trust those who are vaccinating us." In an attempt to address resistance to interventions from "the West", WHO officials have placed the programme in Peshawar under the auspices of the city's ruling political party. They rebrand it as a general health campaign, playing down polio amid other medical and hygiene initiatives. They also switch to impromptu one-day immunisation drives, guarded by local police forces, to foil any planned Taliban attacks.

The film ends on a positive note, with a scene showing documents related to the success of the vaccination programme under the title "Justice for Health", a programme initiated by Imran Khan.

Every Last Child has been screened in places such as the United States (featuring, for example, panel discussions with experts after the screening). It is set to launch on iTunes in August 2015, and work will be done with educational institutions to host screenings for students and healthcare practitioners.