The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) recently concluded a meeting in Geneva, where it reviewed the progress and efforts of Afghanistan and Pakistan in their mission to eradicate polio.
Within the next three weeks, the IMB will release a report detailing its findings.
Working on behalf of international donor agencies, the IMB issues reports every six months, assessing the performance of countries in their fight against polio, Pakistan’s Dawn reported.
Afghanistan has been grappling with the challenge of polio eradication. The country has been fighting to eliminate polio for many years, facing various obstacles including security concerns, inaccessibility to remote areas, and vaccine hesitancy in some communities.
In 2023, Afghanistan has seen a rise in polio cases, reporting at least five cases so far. The last case was reported in Nangarhar province in June. This has posed a setback in the efforts to eradicate the disease.
On July 9, Nangarhar residents voiced their dissatisfaction over a delayed commencement of the polio vaccination campaign in the province, where five cases of the viral disease have already been reported this year.
Despite the high number of polio cases, the vaccination campaign in the province has been postponed, according to the residents. They are now urging for the campaign to be implemented in all districts and villages of Nangarhar.
