KABUL, Afghanistan — The United Nations Children’s Fund said on Tuesday that 11.6 million children under the age of five were vaccinated against polio in Afghanistan in 2024, amid growing challenges to eradicate the disease.
Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a post on X that despite the scale of the vaccination effort, new cases continue to emerge. He emphasized that UNICEF and its partners remain committed to reaching every child with the polio vaccine.
According to official figures, 25 positive cases of poliovirus were reported in 2024, a significant increase compared to the past three years, during which only three cases were recorded — all in districts of Nangarhar Province.
This year, only one case has been confirmed so far, in Badghis Province. But officials warn the gains are fragile.
Most of the recent cases have been concentrated in southern Afghanistan: 14 in Kandahar, seven in Helmand, two in Uruzgan, and one each in Kunar and Nuristan.
Efforts to contain the disease have been hampered by a ban imposed by the Taliban on door-to-door vaccination campaigns — a strategy considered essential to reaching vulnerable children in remote or underserved areas.
Health workers and vaccinators have raised concerns that the restriction is leaving gaps in coverage, particularly in areas where families may not bring children to centralized clinics.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio has yet to be eradicated. Public health experts say nationwide immunization and unrestricted access for health teams are critical to eliminating the virus once and for all.
