Taliban urged not to hinder polio drive

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN for hampering a polio vaccination campaign in the southern zone.

Armed insurgents should allow vaccination and humanitarian campaigns in a peaceful atmosphere, Deputy Governor Abdul Qayyum Patyal told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Patyal issued the call as a three-day polio drive was launched in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where the vaccine would be administered to thousands children below five years of age.

The campaign was launched by Public Health Director Dr. Abdul Qayyum Pukhla, who administrated polio drops to a child in the ninth police district of Kandahar City. 

Pukhla said 24 cases of polio were registered this last Afghan calendar year in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces. As a result, more efforts were needed to contain the crippling disease from the southern zone.

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