KABUL, Afghanistan — A new round of polio vaccination campaign will begin nationwide on Monday, aiming to immunize 11.6 million children under the age of five across all 34 provinces, according to Taliban-run public health ministry.
The campaign will last four days in the provinces of Helmand, Nangarhar, Laghman, Nuristan, Kandahar, and Kunar, and three days in the rest of the country, the ministry said.
This comes as Afghanistan faces a troubling surge in polio cases. According to the World Health Organization, the number of confirmed cases has quadrupled this year compared with 2024. The first case of 2025 was reported in Badghis Province. Local health officials said more than 118,000 children under five are targeted for vaccination in Badghis alone.
Earlier this year, in February, the second phase of the vaccination campaign was conducted across 16 provinces, reaching an estimated 6.3 million children.
Despite ongoing efforts, concerns are growing over the Taliban’s restrictions on door-to-door polio vaccination. Under the new policy, parents are required to bring their children to mosques or health centers to receive the vaccine, a shift that many families say makes access more difficult, particularly in harsh winter conditions.
The Taliban initially halted door-to-door vaccinations in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in September, later extending the ban to other regions — a move that health experts warn could leave many children vulnerable.
Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the highest number of polio cases so far this year have been reported in southern provinces: Kandahar has recorded 11 cases, Helmand eight, Uruzgan two, and Paktika, Kunar, Nuristan, and Badghis each one.
