Afghanistan: Taliban agree to door-to-door polio vaccine campaign
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the last countries in the world to have local polio, an incurable and highly contagious disease.
Health workers in Afghanistan will launch a door-to-door polio vaccination campaign next month when the new Taliban government agrees to support the campaign, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund said.
"The WHO and UNICEF welcome the decision of the Taliban leadership to support the resumption of door-to-door polio vaccination throughout Afghanistan," he said in a statement on Monday.
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the last countries in the world to have local polio, an incurable and highly contagious disease transmitted through the sewage that can cause paralysis in young children.
Polio has been practically eradicated globally through a decades-long vaccination campaign. But insecurity, inaccessibility, large-scale displacement, and suspicion of external interference are obstacles to large-scale vaccination in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"The resumption of polio vaccination is essential to prevent any significant outbreak of polio within the country and to reduce the risk of cross-border and international transmission," he said.
Launched November 8, the campaign will be the first in more than three years to reach all children in Afghanistan, including more than 3 million in remote and previously inaccessible areas.
"This decision will allow us to make significant progress in our efforts to eradicate polio," said Herva Ludwig de Les, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan.
"In order to eradicate polio completely, every child in every household across Afghanistan should be vaccinated, and with our partners, that is what we want to do," he said.
A second campaign, to be launched in Pakistan in December, has also been agreed upon.
Afghanistan reported one case of Wild Polio Virus Type 1 (WPV1) in 2021, up from 56 in 2020, according to figures compiled before the fall of the Western-backed government in August.
However, unless the disease is completely eradicated, it remains a threat to human health in all countries, especially those with weak health systems, due to the risk of importing the disease. From.
The statement said that since the Taliban returned to power two months ago, the United Nations has been in talks with the group's leadership to address the country's major health challenges.
It said the Taliban leadership was committed to including women workers on the front lines.
Afghanistan's new rulers have also "pledged to ensure the safety and security of all health workers across the country, a prerequisite for the implementation of the polio vaccination campaign," the agencies said.
It marks the dramatic face of the group's position during the years of fighting against the Western-backed government.
No nationwide campaign has been launched for more than three years, mainly due to the Taliban's opposition to the door-to-door vaccination campaign, which they suspect is being used to spy on their activities. ۔
Taliban leaders often told communities in areas under their control that the vaccine was a Western conspiracy to disinfect Muslim children.
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