KABUL, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Afghan Public Health Ministry, launched a nationwide campaign today (Monday) to give polio vaccination dose to 9.1 million children under the age of five, the ministry said.
The five-day campaign started on Monday (today), in 30 of the country’s 34 provinces. Due to harsh weather, the anti-polio drive will not be conducted in central Bamyan and Daykundi provinces and western Ghor and Badghis provinces.
The drive was launched as 29 polio cases were detected in Afghanistan in 2019.
The ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering efforts to stamp out the infectious disease in the mountainous country, as 1.2 million children from areas inaccessible to vaccination teams, will miss the ongoing vaccine drive.
Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan are the only two countries in the world that polio cases are reported every year, according to the statement.
