Afghanistan has announced a nationwide vaccination campaign against the poliovirus. As the Taliban-run Ministry of Health announced, more than 8.8 million children will be vaccinated against the disease, also known as polio, from Monday. The number of cases detected this year is worrying, said Taliban Health Minister Kalandar Ebad.
The campaign is designed to last four days, but will be extended to a week in 42 districts in the east of the country, where the risk of infection is very high. The World Health Organization (WHO) had previously warned that the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans following mass deportations from neighboring Pakistan increased the risk of the virus spreading.
Disease without cure
Polio is a contagious infectious disease that can cause permanent paralysis and death, especially in small children. The virus is often spread through contaminated water. There is currently no cure. The disease has been eradicated through vaccination campaigns in most countries around the world. Afghanistan is one of the few countries where diseases caused by the wild type of the pathogen still occur regularly.
In the past, vaccination teams in Afghanistan have repeatedly been attacked. Extremists also spread conspiracy theories about alleged side effects. Before they came to power two years ago, the Taliban had banned vaccinations in areas they controlled. However, the United Nations (UN) successfully negotiated a resumption of the vaccination program.
