The Taliban-run Afghan public health ministry has announced the start of a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating children under the age of five.
Over the past three years, before taking control of Afghanistan, the Taliban had barred UN-organised teams from carrying out door-to-door vaccinations in parts of the country under their control, apparently due to suspicions that they could be spies for the previous government or the West.
Because of the ban and ongoing fighting, some 3.3 million children have not been vaccinated.
The Taliban’s acting public health minister, Dr Qalandar Ebad, said on Sunday: “Without any doubt polio is a disease that without treatment will either kill our children or cause them with permanent disability, so in this case the only way is to implement the vaccination.”
Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic and the disease can cause partial paralysis in children.
Since 2010, the country has been carrying out regular inoculation campaigns in which workers go door to door, giving the vaccine to children. Most of the workers are women, since they can get better access to mothers and children.
The four-day campaign will start on Monday and take place countrywide, Dr Ebad said.
The estimated target population is Afghanistan’s 10 million children under five, including the more than 3.3 million who could not be reached since 2018.
Nek Wali Shah Momin, a health ministry official in the polio eradication department, said: “Vaccination of (children) less than five years of age in the country during the national immunisation days is a gigantic task. It is not possible for the ministry of public health alone to complete this task successfully, so we need the support of all linked departments.”
The Taliban’s reported endorsement of the campaign appeared to be aimed at showing the international community they are willing to co-operate with international agencies.
The long-time militant insurgent force has been trying to win the world’s recognition of its new government and reopen the door for international aid to rescue the crumbling economy.
The World Health Organisation and the UN children’s agency Unicef said in a joint statement last month that they welcomed the decision by the Taliban leadership supporting the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccinations across the country.
Large sections of the country have been out of reach for vaccinations in recent years.
In parts of the south, particularly, the ban by the Taliban was in effect. In other areas, door-to-door campaigns were impossible because of fighting between the government and insurgents, or because of fears of kidnappings or roadside bombs.
In some places, hardline clerics spoke out against vaccinations, calling them un-Islamic or claiming they were part of a Western plot.
