CIA fake vaccination campaign in Pakistan

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During the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, the CIA ran a covert operation utilizing a fake hepatitis vaccine program in Pakistan to illicitly collect blood samples to confirm the presence of bin Laden or his family.[1] The CIA did not administer hepatitis vaccines, and instead planned to compare DNA samples collected from the program with the DNA of bin Laden's sister, who died in Boston in 2010.[1]

The program was ultimately unsuccessful. It led to the arrest of a participating physician, Shakil Afridi, and was widely ridiculed as undermining public health.[2][3] The program is credited with increasing vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan[4][5][6][7] and a rise in violence against healthcare workers for being perceived as spies.[8] The rise in vaccine hesitancy following the program led to the re-emergence of polio in Pakistan, with Pakistan having by far the largest number of polio cases in the world by 2014.[8]

Aftermath

In September of 2012, after working for 30 years in Pakistan, Save the Children was expelled.[9]

In 2011, the program was condemned by Doctors without Borders.[9] In Feb 2012, the program was condemned by the non-governmental organization InterAction.[9] On January 6, 2013, the deans of twelve American schools of public health sent a letter to Obama condemning the program.[10][9]

On May 16, 2014, Lisa Monaco responded that vaccine programs would be excluded from espionage:[11][12]

I wanted to inform you that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directed in August 2013 that the agency make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers. Similarly, the Agency will not seek to obtain or exploit DNA or other genetic material acquired through such programs. This CIA policy applies worldwide and to U.S. and non-U.S. persons alike.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Shah, Saeed (11 July 2011). "CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  2. ^ Robbins, Anthony (November 2012). "The CIA's vaccination ruse". Journal of Public Health Policy. 33 (4): 387–389. doi:10.1057/jphp.2012.37. PMID 22932022.
  3. ^ Vavra, Shannon (24 December 2021). "CIA's Bin Laden Vaccine Ruse Haunts Public Health Efforts". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  4. ^ Martinez-Bravo, Monica; Stegmann, Andreas (16 February 2022). "In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan". Journal of the European Economic Association. 20 (1): 150–186. doi:10.1093/jeea/jvab018.
  5. ^ "CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden fueled vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan". New Scientist. May 11, 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  6. ^ Iqbal, Hala (1 February 2021). "How the CIA's fake Hepatitis B vaccine program in Pakistan helped fuel vaccine distrust". Vox. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  7. ^ Ali, Inayat (29 August 2024). Contesting Measles and Vaccination in Pakistan: Cultural Beliefs, Structured Vulnerabilities, Mistrust, and Geo-Politics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-89925-2. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b The Lancet (May 2014). "Polio eradication: the CIA and their unintended victims". The Lancet. 383 (9932): 1862. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60900-4. PMID 24881975.
  9. ^ a b c d "CIA Vaccination Cover in Pakistan - Bloomberg School of Public Health". John Hopkins. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  10. ^ Buekens, Pierre M.; Curran, James W. (January 6, 2013). "Klag letter to President Obama" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-02. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  11. ^ "After bin Laden backlash, CIA promises: No more vaccination campaigns for spying". Yahoo News. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  12. ^ Summers, Todd; Morrison, J. Stephen (May 27, 2014). "Fake CIA Vaccine Campaign: When the End Doesn't Justify the Means". www.csis.org. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
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