Polio vaccination campaign kicks off in 21 provinces

The Ministry of Public Health said on Monday that in cooperation with its international partners, a polio vaccination campaign is underway in 21 provinces in Afghanistan.

According to the Ministry of Health, 7.8 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated against the polio virus during the four-day campaign – which runs from Monday, November 27 to December 1. The campaign will however run for a week in Nangarhar province.

Sharafat Zaman Amar, the ministry’s spokesperson, said that vitamin A is also being administered to children during this vaccination campaign in a bid to boost their immune systems.

Abdul Wahid Rahmani, the head of the campaign in the western zone, has asked all families to vaccinate their children under the age of five.

Polio, which can paralyze a child, or lead to death, is not a curable disease and can only be prevented and eradicated by vaccinating children, doctors have said.

So far this year, six positive cases of polio have been registered in Nangarhar province alone.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.