A polio vaccination camp has been launched on Monday in 179 high-risk districts in Afghanistan by the Afghan Public Health Ministry. Afghanistan along with Pakistan and Nigeria is one of the three countries in the world where polio remains as endemic. UNICEF offers support to the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan in finding innovative ways to reach children for immunization and to develop trust in the importance of vaccination campaigns.
‘Ongoing conflict and political instability have made vaccination difficult, and migration across the borders of Pakistan has made it even more challenging, making the disease more vulnerable to children of both sides.’
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The campaign will cover 5.4 million children under five years, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying. The campaign will continue till January 25 in the west, central and southeast regions and from January 28 to February 1 in the south and the east regions.
The ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering government efforts to curb the infectious disease in the war-torn country as more than 20 polio cases were detected in 2018.
Source-IANS