Via ReliefWeb, a report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on a notable achievement: Eight million children vaccinated against polio in Afghanistan. Excerpt:
Around 8 million children under five years of age were administered anti-polio drops during a three-day nationwide campaign in Afghanistan last week.
The campaign started on 16 September 2012 and continued for three days in which 55,000 service providers including 40 volunteers went door-to-door and administered anti-polio vaccines to the children.
“Special attention was given to the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand for reported majority cases of polio,” said Dr. Arshad Quddus, a Medical Officer at WHO Afghanistan. WHO is one of two UN agencies that supported the anti-polio campaign led by the Ministry of Public Health.
Afghanistan still remains one of three polio-endemic countries, together with Pakistan and Nigeria, in the world. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is hosting a high-level event in New York next week to highlight the threat posed by polio.
According to Suraiya Dalil, the Minister for Public Health, 17 cases of polio were reported in Afghanistan this year.
