KABUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan will kick off the first vaccination campaign against polio this year, the latest in the fight against the infectious disease, said the Public Health Ministry on Sunday.
Starting from Monday, the five-day drive will target 8.8 million children under five years across the country, the ministry said in a statement.
"The campaign which will take place from 27-31 March is the first national campaign in 2017. More than 8.8 million children under the age of 5 will be vaccinated against polio and more than 7.9 million aged 6 months to 5 years will be given vitamin A tablets," the statement reads.
The campaign will cover all provinces, except central Bamyam, the neighboring Daykundi and Ghor provinces due to cold weather, the statement said.
"Two polio cases have been reported in 2017, one from southern Helmand and one from (neighboring) Kandahar province. In 2016, 13 polio cases were reported, down from 20 in 2015. Most of Afghanistan remains polio-free, but wild poliovirus continues to circulate in localized geographical areas in the eastern, southern and south-eastern parts of the country," the statement noted.
Currently only two countries, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan still remain polio endemic since Nigeria was removed from the list of polio endemic countries in 2015.
