Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Thousands of children are to be administered polio drops in the volatile Shah Walikot district of Kandahar province.
Supported by UNICEF and WHO, Afghan authorities are all set to conduct the urgent polio vaccination campaign in restive district with the highest number of polio cases in any district in the world.
On the eve of the campaign, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer urged all warring parties to facilitate health workers in conducting the vaccination drive.
The situation in Shah Walikot put hundreds of thousands of children at risk, he warned, calling the campaign throughout the district more urgent than ever.
A new case of wild poliovirus, raising the number of such incidents in Kandahar to five and the nationwide total to 12 in 2017, was reported last week.
Lanzer said: “The outbreak of polio in Shahwalikot means that Afghanistan remains one of only three countries in the world that is still polio-endemic…
“I call on the authorities and all people with influence, including the leaders of the communities, to ensure this polio vaccination campaign takes place by helping health workers, facilitating their task and protecting them and their supplies so that all children are protected against polio.”
