This article details some of the challenges polio eradiation coordinators face in their efforts to vaccinate children in Somalia. In 2002 polio transmission was ended in Somalia, but in 2005 a major outbreak from imported cases out of Nigeria swept through the country. Efforts to wipe out polio are hampered by two main trouble spots in Africa, say experts: Nigeria, where officials must overcome false rumours that vaccines are a Western tool to sterilise Muslims, and Somalia, where intertribal warfare threatens the safety of polio vaccinators. Other problem areas are India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

This article details some of the challenges polio eradiation coordinators face in their efforts to vaccinate children in Somalia. In 2002 polio transmission was ended in Somalia, but in 2005 a major outbreak from imported cases out of Nigeria swept through the country. Efforts to wipe out polio are hampered by two main trouble spots in Africa, say experts: Nigeria, where officials must overcome false rumours that vaccines are a Western tool to sterilise Muslims, and Somalia, where intertribal warfare threatens the safety of polio vaccinators. Other problem areas are India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

The article concludes with an example of the role that personal stories can play in communicating the importance of vaccination in preventing polio.