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| Afghanistan has not had a countrywide polio immunization campaign in over three years. (Photo by= AFP) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] KABUL: The UN said on Monday (Oct 18) that Afghanistan will begin its first countrywide polio immunisation campaign in years next month to protect millions of unvaccinated children. AFP said that the United Nations' health and children's agencies said the campaign to vaccinate against the crippling and potentially fatal disease would begin on Nov 8, with full support from the Taliban leadership.
"WHO and UNICEF welcome the decision by the Taliban leadership supporting the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccination across Afghanistan," they said in a statement. The UN agencies said next month's campaign would aim to reach 9.9 million children under five, more than a third of them in regions that had long been inaccessible to vaccinators. A second nationwide polio vaccination campaign had also been agreed upon and would be synchronized with a campaign planned in neighboring Pakistan in December, they said.
Since the Taliban swept back into power two months ago, the UN had been talking with the group's leadership to address the towering health challenges in the country, the statement said. Meanwhile, due in large part to Taliban opposition to door-to-door vaccination campaigns, which they suspected were being used to spy on their activities, no campaigns with countrywide reach have been carried out in over three years.
