Afghanistan has launched another polio vaccination campaign aimed at protecting around eight million children under the age of five, the Taliban Health Ministry announced on Monday.

The four-day campaign is the third this year and will cover 23 of the country’s 34 provinces, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry spokesman, Sharafat Zaman, has called on religious scholars, community elders and parents to play their part in the fight against polio. This debilitating disease can lead to paralysis and death.

In December, the World Health Organisation warned that the repatriation of Afghan migrants from neighbouring Pakistan had increased the risk of polio spreading.

Since then, Afghanistan has conducted several rounds of vaccinations.

According to officials, four cases of the virus had been recorded in Afghanistan this year, and six cases were recorded in the country in 2023.

Vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan often face challenges due to conspiracy theories that polio vaccines cause infertility or that vaccinators are spies.

Before seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban had banned door-to-door vaccinations in areas they controlled.

However, the United Nations successfully negotiated with them to resume the vaccination programme across the country after their return to power. 

(dpa/NAN)