UN negotiated recovery
Afghanistan plans vaccination campaign against polio
8/21/2023 4:59 p.m
In almost all parts of the world, children are protected against the infectious disease. Afghanistan and Pakistan are not included. There, the wild type still regularly leads to paralysis and sometimes to death. That should change now.
According to the government, eleven million children in Afghanistan are to be vaccinated against polio. Vaccination teams are to travel through towns and villages in most of the provinces for four days to administer the vaccination, according to a coordinator at the militant Islamist Taliban-led Ministry of Health. In the north of the country, the campaign is initially delayed.
Polio, also known as polio, is a contagious, infectious disease that can cause paralysis and death. The virus can cause permanent paralysis, especially in small children. It is often spread via contaminated water. So far there is no cure.
The disease has been eradicated through vaccination campaigns in most countries around the world. Like Pakistan, Afghanistan is one of the few countries in which diseases with the wild type of the pathogen still occur regularly.
In the past, vaccination teams in Afghanistan have been repeatedly attacked. Extremists also spread conspiracy theories about alleged side effects. Before taking power two years ago, the Taliban had banned vaccinations in areas they controlled. However, the UN successfully negotiated a resumption of the vaccination program