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In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan

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Abstract

In July 2011, the Pakistani public unexpectedly learnt that the CIA had used a vaccination campaign as cover during the operations to locate and capture Osama Bin Laden. This episode lent credibility to conspiracy theories against vaccines that had been spread by the Taliban. We evaluate the effects of these events on immunization by implementing a Difference-in-Differences strategy across cohorts and regions. We find that vaccination rates declined 9 to 13% per standard deviation in Islamist parties' support. These results suggest that the disclosure of information discrediting vaccination campaigns can negatively affect trust in health services and demand for immunization.

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  • Monica Martinez-Bravo & Andreas Stegmann, 2017. "In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan," Working Papers wp2017_1713, CEMFI, revised Jul 2018.
    • Handle: RePEc:cmf:wpaper:wp2017_1713
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vaccines; demand; propaganda; trust; Pakistan.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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