Technology and Science22 September, 20262 min read
Afghanistan Ministry Of Public Health Launches Nationwide Polio Vaccination For 12.7 Million Children
Four-day nationwide campaign across 34 provinces vaccinating about 12.7 million children under five. Ministry of Public Health launched nationwide campaign to immunize under-five children.
Nationwide polio push
Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign aimed at immunizing more than 12.7 million children under the age of five against the poliovirus.
The campaign was scheduled to run from Monday through Thursday and extend to Friday in southern provinces, and the ministry said it would administer doses of the oral polio vaccine.
Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil urged tribal elders, religious scholars and parents to fully cooperate with health workers to ensure the campaign's success.
The World Health Organization report cited in the coverage said Afghanistan had recorded 25 confirmed cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) as of Sept. 13.
Timing and cooperation
The Ministry of Public Health said the four-day campaign would run from Monday through Thursday, with vaccination activities extended through Friday in southern provinces. Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil called on tribal elders, religious scholars and parents to cooperate fully with vaccination teams and facilitate access to children in communities across the country.
The ministry said, "Community cooperation is essential to the success of the vaccination campaign," and it urged families to ensure that eligible children receive the vaccine. The coverage also described Afghanistan as one of the last polio-endemic countries, alongside neighboring Pakistan, where transmission persists.
Cases, hotspots, and access
The Taliban announced that from today 12 million Afghan children would receive the polio vaccine, and it said the nationwide program began today, Monday, in all provinces of Afghanistan. The Taliban said that in this four-day plan, more than 12,770,000 children under five will be vaccinated, and it said the operation would begin in the southern sector of Afghanistan with a one-day delay from Tuesday.
A report cited the World Health Organization and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative saying the number of confirmed polio cases in Afghanistan rose to 25 in 2026, with two new cases recorded in Helmand and Nuristan provinces. The report also said the WHO notes that the suspension of house-to-house vaccination campaigns since October 2024 has deprived many young children in remote areas of the necessary vaccine doses.