Not long after Ghani’s death, a plaque arrived from the CDC in Atlanta. Signed by the Center’s president C.Charles Stokes, it announced that – in the light of his ‘extraordinary contributions and sacrifices’ – Abdul Ghani had been named a ‘Polio Eradication Hero’…

From the new book by Dominic Streatfeild, A History of the World since 9/11, published in February 2011 (UK) by Atlantic Books, August 2011 (US) by Bloomsbury Press.