Two polio cases reported in Nangarhar province

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan reported two cases of polio in Nangarhar. A spokesman for the Health Ministry, Sharafat Zaman Amerkhail said that these two cases have been reported in Koot and Batikoot districts of Nangarhar province. One polio-stricken child has died.
This ministry said they will start a polio vaccination campaign soon.
“In these two cases one child is 4 years old and the other is 11. One of them lost their life and we want to start a polio vaccination campaign to prevent this disease,” said Amerkhail.
Family members of the child who died in Batikoot district said that one year ago their child was infected with polio and was paralyzed from the neck down and after severe diarrhea died in the hospital.
The child was named Nazo.
“Her neck became paralyzed. She couldn’t control it. We took her to the hospital and on the night of Eid she died,” said Iqbal Shah, the grandfather of Nazo.
“After this disease (polio) her feet become tiny. Her stomach become acidic, she lost control of her neck and she couldn’t digest food,” said Zarmina, the mother of Nazo.
At the same time, a number of citizens and health volunteers asked partner organizations to cooperate with them on vaccination campaigns.
“We will go for vaccination campaigns after one month and people must vaccinate their children on time,” said Fida Mohammad, a health volunteer.
“We want more clinics and more public awareness campaigns,” said Albani, a Nangarhar resident.
Based on numbers of the Ministry of Public Health, in 2020 there were 56 cases of paralyzed children, in 2021 there were four positive cases, and in 2022 there were two positive cases of this disease recorded in the country.