KABUL, Afghanistan — A new round of polio vaccination campaign started in 16 provinces of the country on Monday.
According to Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the Taliban’s spokesman for the public health ministry, this is the fourth round of the polio vaccination campaign this year and will be conducted for three days.
At least 6.2 million children under the age of five years old are expected to be vaccinated during this campaign.
Afghanistan remains one of the two countries besides Pakistan where the polio disease is yet to be eradicated.
This comes last month sources reported that Taliban had halted door-to-door polio vaccinations in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
The World Health Organization reported three new polio cases in Kandahar and Helmand in October—two in Kandahar’s Maiwand and Ghorak districts, and one in Nahr-e-Saraj district in Helmand.
The WHO has recorded 410 environmental polio cases this year, with 74 reported in Afghanistan and 336 in neighboring Pakistan.
Health officials have stressed the urgency of vaccination to prevent further spread, especially in high-risk regions where immunization efforts are hindered.
