Taliban Announces Start Of Polio Vaccination Campaign In 16 Provinces Of Afghanistan

Earlier, the Taliban had suspended the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan in September this year.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health, announced the start of the polio campaign in a video on Monday, October 28, but did not specify in which provinces the campaign will be implemented.

The three-day campaign is expected to vaccinate more than six million children under the age of five.

The spokesperson of the ministry called on scholars and people to cooperate with the vaccination programme staff to eradicate polio.

According to official reports, six positive cases of polio were recorded last year and 22 cases of polio were recorded in Afghanistan this year.

A spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Public Health, however, claimed that no positive cases of polio had been reported in Afghanistan this year.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have so far failed to eradicate polio. Despite the continuing challenge, the Taliban had recently suspended the polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan.