Ministry to create polio vaccination teams

KABUL Minister on Saturday said the ministry has plans to create permanent polio vaccination teams in volatile provinces to tackle the health woe among the population.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) identified polio disease in China, Tajikistan and some African countries last week, where it was earlier eradicated in the past decades, Minister Dr. Suraya Dalil told a news conference.

She added: “Polio is a serious threat to the world. In the next 10 years 200,000 children would be affected by the disease if it was not prevented, the WHO had predicted.”

Dalil said Afghanistan.

She said the ministry was working to create permanent polio vaccination teams in southern provinces, but did not name the province.

The presence of the disease in Pakistan would make it tough for it to be eradicated in Afghanistan, said Dalil, adding that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to launch anti-polio campaigns simultaneously.

She asked parents to vaccinate their children below five years of age against the disease and also urged media outlets to help create public awareness on polio.

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