A new paper in the
Journal of the European Economic Association, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that distrust generated by a 2011 CIA-led vaccination campaign ruse designed to catch Osama Bin Laden resulted in a significant vaccination rate decline in Pakistan.
Using a local doctor, the US Central Intelligence Organization planned an immunization plan in Pakistan to obtain DNA samples of children living in a compound in Abbottabad where American authorities suspected Bin Laden was hiding in order to obtain proof of Bin Laden s location (because the presence of close relatives would be a likely indication of Bin Laden s presence). Without consent from the Pakistani health authorities, the doctor began to administer hepatitis B vaccines to children in Abbottabad. The Guardian published an article revealing the vaccine project shortly after a United States military special operations unit killed Bin Laden on May 2, 2011.
Researchers estimate the disclosure of the CIA vaccination campaign used to locate bin Laden reduced vaccination rates between 23% and 39% in districts with strong support for an alliance of parties espousing political extremism.
A girl reacts while getting a nasal swab sample at a testing and screening facility for the new coronavirus, in a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
(CN) Distrust generated by a CIA vaccination campaign plot in Pakistan to catch Osama Bin Laden produced a steep vaccination rate decline in the world’s fifth most populous country, a new paper finds.
With the assistance of a local doctor, the U.S. Central Intelligence Organization orchestrated a plan to obtain DNA samples of children living in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in an effort to locate Bin Laden, according to the paper published Tuesday in the Journal of the European Economic Association
Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
The CIA’s efforts to capture Osama bin Laden via a fake vaccination drive in Pakistan led to a rise in vaccine hesitancy in the years after the scheme was revealed.
In 2011, it was reported that the CIA had organised a fake vaccination drive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, reportedly administering hepatitis B vaccines to babies, while obtaining DNA samples to compare with that of bin Laden’s sister, who died in the US the year before. The CIA was attempting to find a child who was related to bin Laden, in an effort to pin down his whereabouts.
CIA scheme to capture Bin Laden led to vaccination drop in Pakistan: study 2 minutes read
Washington, May 11 (EFE).- A fake vaccination campaign orchestrated by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to capture Osama bin Laden in 2011 resulted in a significant decrease in immunization rates in Pakistan, according to a study published Tuesday.
The research paper appears in the Journal of the European Economic Association, published by Oxford University Press.
“The empirical evidence highlights that events which cast doubt on the integrity of health workers or vaccines can have severe consequences for the acceptance of health products such as vaccines,” said Andreas Stegmann, one of the paper’s authors.