“The fact that we have intense circulation of polio wild virus, particularly in southern and eastern regions of the country, highlights the urgency of making sure that every single child under the age of 5 is vaccinated during every campaign. We must all play our part in ensuring that our children are healthy and stay protected from polio,” said Minister of Public Health Dr Ferozuddin Feroz.
During the campaign, over 50,000 trained polio workers will go from house to house in their communities to vaccinate children. On Friday, polio teams will re-visit households where children were missed the first time the vaccinators visited to ensure that all children are vaccinated and protected.
The polio vaccine is safe and it does not have any side effects, even for sleeping or sick children and newborns. Polio vaccine has also been strongly endorsed by national and global Islamic scholars.
So far in 2018, Afghanistan has already seen one case of polio, in Kama District of Nangarhar Province, where a 16-month-old girl was affected by the disease. The campaign beginning today is the first of about 10 national and sub-national vaccination campaigns that will occur throughout 2018. The goal of these efforts is to completely eradicate polio from Afghanistan this year.
For more information, contact:
Dr Maiwand Ahmadzai, Director Polio Emergency Operations Centre,
Mohammad Ismail Kawusi, Director of Public Relations Department,
