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Insecurity, Virus Sees Polio Cases Rise In Afghanistan
Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease.
Image Credits: AP
Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. 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.
Authorities say nearly ten million children are now in need of vaccination against polio. Of those, authorities are unable to reach some three million children living in areas under the control of Taliban insurgents. The first round of inoculations was carried out earlier this year, and a second was launched March 29.
Afghans work to stem polio rise amid violence, pandemic
RAHIM FAIEZ
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1of9Shabana Maani, gives a polio vaccination to a child in the old part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 29, 2021. Afghanistan is inoculating millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of three vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign.Rahmat Gul/APShow MoreShow Less
2of9Shabana Maani, gives a polio vaccination to a child in the old part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 29, 2021. Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of three vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign as turmoil grows in the country.Rahmat Gul/APShow MoreShow Less
International News
Apr 8, 2021
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of three vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign as turmoil grows in the country.
The three women were gunned down in two separate attacks on March 30 as they carried out door-to-door vaccinations in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
It was the first time that vaccination workers have been killed in a decade of door-to-door inoculations against the children’s disease in Afghanistan. Such attacks have been more common in neighboring Pakistan, where at least 70 vaccinators and security personnel connected to vaccination campaigns have been killed since 2011.
Afghanistan works to stem recent rise in polio cases amid COVID-19 pandemic, violence Rahim Faiez Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Rahmat Gul/The Associated Press
Afghanistan is trying to inoculate millions of children against polio after pandemic lockdowns stalled the effort to eradicate the crippling disease. But the recent killing of three vaccinators points to the dangers facing the campaign as turmoil grows in the country.
The three women were gunned down in two separate attacks on March 30 as they carried out door-to-door vaccinations in the eastern city of Jalalabad.