A three-day vaccination campaign to protect 6.2 million children under five against poliovirus was announced Monday by the Ministry of Public Health of the Afghan caretaker administration.
According to ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the campaign, which runs from Monday to Wednesday, will give anti-polio drops to youngsters in 16 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Amarkhil asked parents, religious leaders, and tribal elders to join with polio workers to carry out the campaign in a proper manner.
“There are no confirmed positive polio cases registered in Afghanistan in 2024. The ministry is trying to eradicate this wild virus by launching vaccine campaigns,” Amarkhil said.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a viral disease that can cause paralysis or death in some people. It’s highly contagious and mainly affects children under five years of age.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 to eradicate polio worldwide. Since then, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 per cent. As of 2022, wild poliovirus type-1 is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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Source: Lokmat Times
