Authorities set up by the Taliban after taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021 launched this Monday a new vaccination campaign against polio in the capital Kabul and other provinces, focusing on children under five years old, after at least two cases were confirmed in the Central Asian country so far this year.
“This Monday, a polio vaccination campaign was launched in the capital Kabul and several other provinces of the country. Children under the age of five are vaccinated to prevent the spread of the dangerous polio disease and protect children from permanent paralysis,” the Afghan Ministry of Health said on its account on the social network X.
Therefore, he called on the population to “join this national campaign” to “protect Afghanistan from polio and achieve a better future for children,” after two cases were detected in Badghis and Helmand provinces, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Before the Taliban took power again in August 2021 following the escape of then-President Ashraf Ghani, they banned door-to-door vaccination in the areas they controlled, although thanks to the United Nations it was agreed to restart the vaccination program in the Central Asian country.
Vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan have often been subject to disinformation campaigns claiming that the vaccine causes infertility or that health workers are spies, which is why many of them were attacked, even by the Taliban, before they came to power.
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