The Ministry of Public Health announced that the first national polio vaccination campaign of 2024 began across 31 provinces of the country today (Monday, April 29).
According to the Ministry of Public Health, during this four-day campaign, more than ten million children under the age of five will be vaccinated, and they will also receive vitamin A supplements.
However, due to heavy rainfall, the campaign in the provinces of Ghor, Daikundi, and Bamiyan will start a few days later.
“In the mentioned campaign, which lasts four days, 10.7 million children under five years old will be vaccinated,” Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health told TOLOnews.
Ruhollah Ebrahimi, a vaccinator, said: "To prevent your children from contracting this dangerous disease, vaccinate them in each round of the polio campaign."
Simultaneously, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced in a statement a $500 million donation from Saudi Arabia for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
The statement noted that this amount will assist in providing vital health services along with polio vaccines to countries battling the disease, through the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Abdullah A. Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief), stated: "In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last remaining polio-endemic countries, we have seen significant progress, yet work remains to be done as the world pushes towards making eradication possible. The pledge from Saudi Arabia today will enhance the innovation and collaboration needed to eradicate this disease. Together with our partners, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Islamic Development Bank and key countries across the region, our support will not only aim to end polio but to also strengthen health systems in these countries."
Seyed Abdullah Ahmadi, a doctor, said: “Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the countries most affected by the presence of polio, and in this regard, the World Health Organization needs to analyze based on available resources to identify weaknesses in these countries that have prevented success.”
It is noteworthy that since the beginning of this year, the country has recorded no new polio cases, contrasting with the six cases documented in 2023.