Polio vaccination campaign resumes after rise in cases reported

Polio immunization campaigns have resumed in Afghanistan after a three-month break due to COVID-19, which in turn has seen an increase in polio cases in the country. 

UNICEF reported on Tuesday that as a result of the suspension of the immunization campaign, reported polio cases have reached 34 in Afghanistan and 63 in Pakistan, including in some previously polio-free parts of the country.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the last two polio-endemic countries in the world. Last year, Afghanistan recorded a total of 26 cases for 2019. 

UNICEF said on Tuesday, the polio immunization program restarted in Afghanistan in three provinces in July. 

A second program is scheduled to start this month. 

 “These life-saving vaccinations are critical if children are to avoid yet another health emergency,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia. 

“As the world has come to see only too well, viruses know no borders and no child is safe from polio until every child is safe.”

Polio is a highly infectious, crippling and sometimes fatal disease that can be avoided with a vaccine. Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable.  

Child vaccination drives, including polio campaigns, were halted in both Afghanistan in March in order to avoid the risk of COVID-19 transmission to children, caregivers and vaccinators themselves. 

The application of new vaccination guidelines and the use of protective equipment by frontline health workers will help ensure that vaccination campaigns resume safely.

However, UNICEF stated that while every effort will be made to reach children nationwide the organization is concerned that up to one million children in Afghanistan could miss out as door-to-door vaccinations are not possible in some areas and parents will have to make their way to health clinics to have their child vaccinated. 

“Although we have experienced new challenges and a set-back in the fight against polio because of COVID-19, the eradication of this contagious disease will get back on track and is firmly within our reach,” said Jean Gough.