Dubai: Friday is World Polio Day and it is important to note that while the virus is endemic in three countries — Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is Pakistan that holds the key to eradication as 80 per cent of all cases stem from the country nearly 206 cases of paralysis caused by the polio virus were reported until October 2014.

This raises a definite cause for concern as misplaced trust, social taboos and orthodoxy have resulted in resistance by some community members in getting their children vaccinated.

Early this year, the UAE launched the ‘Pakistan Assistance Programme’ (UAE PAP) which aimed to vaccinate 3.65 million children over the course of three months, especially targeting remote areas of the country.

Keeping the tough challenges in mind, the Abu Dhabi-based film production company Image Nation produced a poignant documentary, ‘Every Last Child’ that will be premiered at the prestigious NYC documentary festival in New York.

Directed by the celebrated documentary film director Tom Roberts, Every Last Child, is the dramatic story of five people caught up in the current polio crisis in Pakistan.

It brings together a set of powerful characters – medical specialist, vaccinator, cynic, adult polio victim and sick child. A story vivid in detail, intense with feeling, is the backdrop to a desperate search for a solution to this devastating disease

“Despite the high level of violence in society, the challenges of natural disasters, I felt the Pakistani people were resilient, very warm, engaging and welcoming. The film reflects the huge effort the people are making to eradicate polio. It is the story of the sweat and tears of the people fighting all resistance to make the vaccination campaign successful,” Roberts told Gulf News.

Roberts refuses to see the resistance posed by some people as being influenced by religious belief as is widely held. “Every single vaccination campaign held worldwide has met with social resistance historically speaking. It is not as though the parents who resist the vaccination do not love their children. In fact they think they are doing right as there is a large spread mistrust of the initiatives of the Central Government and this campaign happens to be one,” says Roberts who still credits the moderate success of the campaign to the collective efforts of the people.

Roberts who was approached by Image Nation to do the film gives complete credit to the UAE’s role as world player in international public health campaigns including the one to vaccinate children in Pakistan. “The UAE has not just provided substantial funding to the polio campaign but has led from the front in many global public health campaigns.”

Roberts hopes to raise awareness on the issue with his documentary.