Polio Vaccination Campaign to Begin Across Afghanistan on September 21

The Polio Free Afghanistan initiative has announced a new nationwide polio vaccination campaign beginning September 21, urging families across the country to vaccinate children under five against the highly infectious disease. Health authorities and international partners say the campaign is critical as Afghanistan remains one of only two countries where wild poliovirus is still endemic.

The campaign will begin across all provinces of Afghanistan, while vaccination teams in the southern region will start operations a day later, according to the initiative’s announcement on X. The programme said oral polio vaccines will be administered to eligible children to strengthen immunity and prevent further transmission of the virus.