Dateline: May 12

Tonight, Dateline is in Pakistan where the Taliban consider polio vaccinations to be a western conspiracy.

This week Dateline follows Farhina Touseef, a health worker in Pakistan risking her life to give out the polio vaccine.

Farhina Touseef is not just fighting a debilitating disease that has no cure, she’s also fighting the Taliban.

“We will go to any lengths to do this work. This is our purpose,” she tells reporter Nelufar Hedayat as she travels with armed police to carry out door-to-door vaccinations.

She gives out the anti-polio drops to children in the street, and if no adults are home, she controversially enters the houses anyway to treat as many children as she can.

“We will go to any extent to vaccinate a child. No matter what we must vaccinate every child.”

Polio is preventable and was nearly eradicated three years ago, but now the disease is again crippling Pakistan’s children in rising numbers.

It follows a campaign, led by the Taliban and some extremists, who believe the vaccinations are a western conspiracy.

Aisha Usmaini who is a teacher of Islam and a mother to a young boy tells Nelufar “Basically it is used as a bio-weapon.” She also believes killing health workers who try to vaccinate is justified.

“If you are defending something and for your defence you kill someone, that is right… they are killing our generations by giving the polio vaccine.”

Tuesday 12 May at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.