Kabul: Afghanistan will start a polio immunization campaign in his first country next year to protect millions of unbaccinated children, the United Nations said Monday.
Health institutions and the United Nations Children said the campaign was to vaccinate against disabled diseases and potentially will begin on November 8, with the full support of the Taliban leadership.
“Who and UNICEF welcome the decision by Taliban leadership which supports the resumption of house-to-home polio vaccinations in Afghanistan,” they said in a statement.
Because the Taliban swept back to power two months ago, the United Nations had spoken with the leadership of the Group to overcome the towering health challenges in the country, the statement said.
“The Taliban leadership has expressed their commitment to inclusion of women’s forefront workers,” he said.
The new Afghan ruler is also committed to “providing security and ensuring the safety of all health workers throughout the country, which is an important prerequisite for the implementation of polio vaccination campaigns,” said the agency.
It marked about the dramatic face of the Islamic position for years of rebellion against the west-supported government that was overthrown.
Because most of the Taliban opposition against the door-to-door vaccination campaign, which they suspect used to spy on their activities, there are no campaigns with a range of relaxation has been carried out in more than three years.
Taliban leaders often tell people in the area they control that vaccines are a Western conspiracy intended to sterilize Muslim children.
The UN agencies say next month’s campaign will aim to reach 9.9 million children under five – more than a third of them in a long-access area cannot be accessed by vaccinators.
The second national polio vaccination campaign has also been agreed upon and will be synchronized with a planned campaign around Pakistan in December, they said.
“This is a very important step in the right direction,” said a representative in Afghanistan Dapeng Luo in the statement.
“Sustainable access to all children is very important to end polio forever.” Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries where the wild version of Poliovirus continues to spread.
In rare cases, the surface of polio infections in other countries caused by a type of polio vaccine that is no longer used – OPV – which contains a small amount that weakens but lives polyovirus.
The UN agencies noted that only one wild polyovirus case reported in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, gave “extraordinary opportunities to eradicate polio.” “Reviewing polio vaccination is now very important to prevent significant polio revival in the country and mitigate the risk of cross-border and international transmission,” they said.
Herve Ludovic de Lys, UNICEF representatives in Afghanistan, emphasized that “to eliminate polio completely, every child in every household throughout Afghanistan must be vaccinated.” “With our partners, this is what we have to do.” UN agencies say that children under five years will also be given an extra dose of vitamin A during the campaign.
Discussions with Taliban leadership also resulted in an agreement to “immediately start the Covid and Covid-19 vaccination campaign”, they said.
Afghanistan polio vaccination starts next month: United Nations
