5.6 million Children to be vaccinated against polio in high-risk areas

The campaign will run for three days, during which over 36,000 polio workers will go from house to house in their communities to vaccinate children. On Friday polio teams will revisit households where children were missed the first time the vaccinators visited to ensure that all children are vaccinated and protected.

“Polio causes permanent disability or even death. It is the right of all Afghan children to grow up healthy and we are all responsible to ensure that all children under the age of 5 receive two drops of the polio vaccine during every single vaccination campaign. Only by reaching all children with these life-saving vaccines can we eradicate polio from Afghanistan for good,” said H.E. Dr Ferozuddin Feroz, Minister of Public Health.

Polio vaccine is safe and it does not have any side effects even for sleeping, sick and newborn children. Polio vaccines have been endorsed by scholars including national and global Ulema.

Afghanistan, Pakistan where polio is still circulating. Two polio cases have been reported in 2017, one from Helmand and one from Kandahar. In 2016, 13 polio cases were reported, down from 20 in 2015. Most of Afghanistan remains polio-free, but wild poliovirus continues to circulate in localized geographical areas in the eastern, southern and south-eastern parts of the country.

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For more information:

Dr Maiwand Ahmadzai, Director of National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, [email protected]; +93 79 926 2724

Mohammad Ismail Kawusi, Director of Public Relations Department, Ministry of Public Health, [email protected]; +93 70028 1111