Polio Afghanistan

Poliomyelitis, poliovirus, is a major cause of mortality, acute paralysis and lifelong disabilities.Afghanistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic, together with Pakistan and Nigeria. Immunization programs on large scale have eliminated polio from most areas of the world. Hence, polio is now confined to a few endemic areas.

For Afghanistan, all children need to be vaccinated to curb wild poliovirus transmission. Poliovirus transmission has become localized in pockets in the south and the east of Afghanistan, so eradication efforts focus on planning at the district- and sub-district levels.

There has been a near 100 per cent increase in families’ awareness about the importance of polio vaccination in the districts that are accessible, but still, a sizable number of children are still not being reached.The need of the hour is to find innovative ways to reach children with vaccines and to build trust in the importance of vaccination campaigns.

The issue that needs to be addressed is that efforts are still needed to eliminate myths about the vaccine and to convince families who are afraid of immunization.

1. Children targeted to receive polio vaccines: 9.9 million
2. Number of campaigns: 10 campaigns
3. Front line workers deployed: More than 65,000
4. Doses of vaccines procured: 111.2 million