Muhammad Essa — The Footballer from Killa Abdullah and What Chaman Represents

Muhammad Essa was born on 20 November 1983 in Chaman, in the Killa Abdullah district of Balochistan. A centre-forward, he went on to earn 38 caps for Pakistan in FIFA-recognised internationals between 2001 and 2009, captaining the national side and becoming one of the most recognisable Pakistani footballers of his generation. He later moved into coaching and management.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme highlights sporting figures from high-burden districts for a straightforward reason: in the communities where vaccine refusals are most stubborn, an argument delivered by an outsider persuades almost nobody, while a recognisable local name carries weight.

Why Killa Abdullah matters to this programme

Killa Abdullah is not a randomly chosen district. Together with Quetta and Chaman it forms what the programme calls the Quetta block — one of the longest-standing wild poliovirus reservoirs in Pakistan, and one of the few places in the world where the virus has never been interrupted.

Several things make it difficult. Chaman sits on one of the busiest crossings on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with constant movement of traders, labourers and families in both directions, so children are frequently in transit when campaigns run. Routine immunisation coverage has historically been low. And the district has recorded polio cases repeatedly, including cases reported in recent years — see the case reported from Killa Abdullah in the media room.

Because the border is porous in epidemiological terms, the programme treats Pakistan and Afghanistan as a single block and vaccinates travelling children at permanent transit points, including at the Chaman crossing itself.

The argument the profile is making

Polio paralysis is permanent and untreatable. A child paralysed at two will never play football at any level, let alone for a national team. That is the entire case for two drops, and it lands differently when the example is a name people in Chaman already know.

It is also a corrective to how Balochistan is usually discussed in coverage of polio. The province appears in the national conversation almost exclusively as a problem — a case count, a refusal cluster, an access constraint. It is also where a boy from Killa Abdullah grew up to captain Pakistan.

What protects a child in Chaman

Two drops of bivalent oral polio vaccine in every campaign round, every time a team calls, until the child turns five — plus the full routine immunisation schedule, which is what gives lasting protection. If a vaccination team does not reach your household, the Sehat Tahaffuz helpline on 1166 is toll-free.

Related reading: high-risk areas and risk tiers, polio cases by province, and polio FAQs.