Polio vaccination campaign to begin next week across Afghanistan

Polio-Free Afghanistan has announced a new nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign set to begin next Monday, calling on families across the country to ensure their children receive the life-saving drops. The campaign is aimed at protecting children under five and pushing Afghanistan closer to the long-standing goal of eradicating polio for good.

According to campaign organizers, the drive will be held in most provinces on Monday, while Bamiyan and Daikundi are expected to be excluded for now because of cold weather and access concerns. Health teams are expected to work through clinics, schools and other public gathering points to widen coverage and reduce the number of missed children.

The campaign comes at a critical moment for Afghanistan, which remains one of only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic, alongside Pakistan. The World Health Organization says polio mainly affects children under five, can cause irreversible paralysis, and has no cure — making vaccination the only reliable protection.

Although local officials have not yet publicly confirmed the exact number of children to be reached in this round, international partners have recently said immunization efforts in Afghanistan are designed to cover more than 12 million children across all 34 provinces. That reflects the scale of the challenge and the urgency of reaching every child, especially in high-risk districts.

The latest push also comes after renewed warnings from global health officials that poliovirus transmission remains active in parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan. A recent WHO emergency review said Afghanistan reported new wild poliovirus cases in 2025 and continues to face persistent transmission, particularly in areas where vaccination access and campaign quality remain uneven.

A major challenge remains the way campaigns are being carried out. WHO noted that house-to-house vaccination has not been widely used since late 2024, with many rounds instead relying on site-to-site delivery, which experts say can leave some children — especially younger ones and those in remote communities, unvaccinated.

That concern is especially serious because polio can spread silently before a child shows symptoms. WHO says one in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, and among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when breathing muscles are affected. Health officials therefore stress that even one missed child can help keep the virus circulating.

The new campaign is likely to be seen as another test of whether Afghanistan can turn repeated vaccination rounds into lasting eradication progress. For now, Polio-Free Afghanistan is urging parents to cooperate fully, as the country tries to prevent more cases and move closer to becoming permanently free of one of the world’s most dangerous childhood diseases.

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