The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the second case of polio in Afghanistan in 2025, with the latest infection reported in the southern province of Helmand. The organisation did not release additional details about the case.
The first confirmed case this year occurred in Bala Murghab district of Badghis province, affecting a five-year-old child.
In addition to the confirmed cases, the WHO has reported 18 positive environmental samples of the poliovirus detected across Afghanistan in 2025. These include eight samples in Kandahar, six in Helmand, and one each in Kabul, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Zabul provinces.
Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Eradication efforts in both nations face persistent challenges, including ongoing security concerns and widespread misinformation surrounding vaccination programmes.
In 2024, Afghanistan recorded 25 confirmed cases of polio and 113 positive environmental samples. The majority of those cases occurred in the country’s southern regions, with 14 reported in Kandahar, seven in Helmand, two in Uruzgan, and one each in Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
Health experts have raised concerns that restrictions imposed by the Taliban on female health workers have negatively impacted the country’s polio vaccination campaign, hindering access to vulnerable populations, particularly in rural areas.
