The United Nations (UN) announced on Monday that the Taliban has suspended all polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan. This decision comes just days before a scheduled immunization campaign, though no official reason has been provided for the suspension. Representatives from the Taliban-led government have yet to comment on the situation.
Afghanistan, along with Pakistan, remains one of the last two countries where polio has not been eradicated. Despite ongoing efforts by the polio eradication program, including collaborations with UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and various non-governmental organizations, the country has faced significant challenges in its final push towards eradicating the disease.
Over the past three years, the number of polio cases in Afghanistan has increased, with the virus spreading to provinces that had previously been free of the disease. To date, 16 provinces have reported cases of Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), with a total of 56 cases. The southern region of Afghanistan has been the most severely affected, accounting for 66 percent of the country’s total polio cases in 2020.
Despite these challenges, the polio vaccination program has maintained 100% adequacy in vaccine supplies for all related activities, including immunization campaigns, case responses, and the deployment of both Permanent and Temporary Teams (PTT). The program successfully introduced various vaccines, such as mOPV2, mOPV1, and tOPV, for case response campaigns through enhanced vaccine management and accountability.
The polio program continued its efforts even during the COVID-19 pandemic, managing to conduct three National Immunisation Days, two Sub-National Immunisation Days, and three Case Response Campaigns across the country. However, the Taliban’s recent suspension of vaccination efforts raises concerns about the future of the fight against polio in Afghanistan, potentially jeopardizing progress made over the years and increasing the risk of further spread of the disease.
