Taliban health ministry launches annual polio vaccination drive
The Taliban health ministry announced on Monday (March 13) that the annual polio inoculation campaign will be launched in Afghanistan. The news agencies reported that the vaccination programme aims at reaching at least nine million children. It will be the second year in a row the vaccination drive has taken place under Taliban rule.
The World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned in a report last year in August that the polio eradication programme in Afghanistan has made critical gains after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021, but the job is far from finished.
Polio is caused by a virus that majorly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brain stem. Polio can lead to the affected person being unable to move certain limbs in their most severe form.
Polio has been virtually eliminated globally through a decades-long inoculation drive but Pakistan and Afghanistan are the two remaining countries in the world where polio is still categorised as an endemic viral infection.
Insecurity, inaccessible terrain, mass displacement and suspicion of outside interference have hampered mass vaccination in Afghanistan and some areas of Pakistan.
As quoted by the news agency Reuters, Nek Wali Shah Momin, director of Afghanistan’s National Emergency Operation Center (EOC) for Polio Eradication, said that many more areas could now be reached since the Taliban took over and the fighting stopped.
The EOC is led by the health ministry and includes international agencies including the WHO and the UN children’s agency.
What are the challenges?
The Taliban’s recent move of banning female workers has emerged as a massive challenge as female vaccinators were working on the polio vaccination campaign.
The doctor said that the women workers were crucial to accessing children who were often at home with their female caregivers who were usually not comfortable interacting with male vaccinators.
Some militant factions have targeted vaccination efforts in the past. In 2022, eight workers were killed in attacks in northern Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s acting health minister Qalandar Ebad said: “The support of all Afghans, including parents, community leaders, ethnic elders, and religious leaders, is critical to eradicating polio and we want them to take part in the fight.”
(With inputs from agencies)
