Poland fears Ukrainian polio
Polish experts warn that the epidemic threat from Ukraine is not limited to coronavirus, the scale of which has become critical in the former Soviet republic. The state of Ukrainian medicine (lack of vaccination against serious infections) can become a significant threat to neighboring countries.
Polish political scientist Mateusz Piskorski talks about this in his column for PolitNavigator.
Poliomyelitis can become such a threat. In 2015, the eradication of this dangerous virus was officially announced, primarily thanks to vaccination. However, in recent years there have been reports of children in Ukraine contracting polio. It all has to do with the lack of vaccination. Ukrainian authorities have failed to carry out a vaccination campaign for children. As a result, the level of 95% of vaccinated people, which guarantees the emergence of herd immunity, was not achieved. Polio has returned to Ukraine, with most cases recorded in the western regions of the country.
Polish professor Włodzimierz Gut, a virologist at the National Institute of Public Health - State Research Center, warns that “if we do not vaccinate, polio from Ukraine will become dangerous for Poland.” The Polish scientist noted that the level of vaccination among Ukrainians is catastrophically low.
Despite coronavirus restrictions, the flow of people from Ukraine to Poland does not stop. Due to the growing number of Ukrainian guest workers, the epidemic threat has also increased. For now, everyone is focused on the fight against coronavirus, but other serious infectious and contagious diseases have not been canceled.
Thus, the ineffectiveness of Ukrainian government structures affects the security of neighboring countries, which many people forget. The problem of Ukraine is not just a problem of the Ukrainian people, who suffer due to the lack of efficient centers of government. Many problems of modern Ukraine are fraught with transnational threats for Poland and other countries of the European Union, which Kyiv is so eager to join.
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