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Almost 10 million children targeted in national polio immunization campaign

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(Last Updated On: December 13, 2021)

The fourth round of the national polio immunization campaign in Afghanistan is scheduled to start Monday and will be synchronized with Pakistan to improve cross-border polio eradication efforts.

According to a statement issued by UNICEF, the campaign will run until Thursday and aims to reach 9.9 million children aged 0-59 months across the country.

In the South and East regions, and provinces of Paktia and Ghazni in the South East, Ghor in the West, and Balkh in the North, the campaign will run a week later, from 20 to 23 December.

This is the second campaign to reach children in areas previously inaccessible by the polio program.

The November 2021 campaign delivered polio vaccinations to 8.5 million children under the age of five, including 2.4 million children who were vaccinated for the first time in over three years, UNICEF said.

“We are intensifying efforts to reach the maximum number of children across the country, but we need sustained access to rapidly build immunity against polio, especially in areas we have not been able to reach in the last few years,” said Dr Dapeng Luo, WHO Representative in Afghanistan.

“The November campaign was a massive leap forward and the upcoming campaign will further strengthen the progress we are making. Six more campaigns are planned for 2022 and we must ensure they are implemented timely and reach all children,” he said.

Four wild poliovirus type 1 cases have been reported in the country so far. The first WPV1 case of 2021 was reported in January 2021 from Ghazni province in the Southeast region, while the other three cases were reported in October and November from Kunduz province.

Health

Public Health minister meets with head of the UN refugees agency

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(Last Updated On: March 22, 2024)

Dr. Qalandar Ebad, the Minister of Public Health met with Leonard Zulu, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on Thursday in Kabul to discuss issues facing the health sector in the country.

Among the issues discussed was that of the establishment of new health centers for returnees in the country.

Ebad said the provision of better health services for compatriots and returnees was one of his priorities and requested the cooperation of this organization in this field.

Leonard Zulu assured Ebad of the organization’s continued cooperation.

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Ebad addresses gathering of health sector supporting organizations in Doha

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(Last Updated On: February 29, 2024)

The Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Qalandar Ebad on Thursday attended a meeting of health sector-supporting organizations in Doha, Qatar and spoke about the need to focus on certain areas of healthcare in the country.

In his speech, Ebad spoke of work needed to reform the health system, joint supervision, self-sufficiency of the health sector, standardization of health services at village and district level and provision of all-round health services.

He asked international colleagues in the field of health to work more on reducing administrative costs and delivering aid in a proper and correct manner.

Ebad said that if excessive administrative expenses are prevented, it will have a positive effect on the expenses in the field of health services.

He also emphasized that the release of the country’s frozen assets would be beneficial for the health sector especially for mothers and children.

It is a big and positive step for the independence of Afghanistan’s health system, development and standardization of health services, which should be taken by the international community, he said.

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Health

Polio vaccination campaign underway in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: February 26, 2024)

The Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with international institutions, on Monday launched the second sub-national polio vaccination campaign for 2024.

The campaign runs in different parts of the country from 26 to 29 February 2024, and aims to reach 7.6 million children below the age of five.

“We are committed to eradicating polio in Afghanistan with the cooperation of our partners. We are working day and night and continue supplementary polio vaccination campaigns and health care services in order to reach the goal of completely eradicating polio throughout the country,” Acting Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad said.

“The support of all Afghans, especially elders and religious scholars, is important in polio eradication activities. It is necessary for them to participate in the fight against polio and keep their children healthy,” he added.

Polio is a viral disease that cannot be cured and can only be prevented and eradicated by vaccination.

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