A new polio case has been reported from Tirinkot District of Urozgan Province which permanently paralyzed a 30-month-old boy in Mehr Abad Village of the district.
Publish dateWednesday 19 June 2019 - 11:36
Story Code : 187002
Polio campaigns were banned in this area since May 2018, and only three site-to-site campaigns were conducted earlier this year. This means children under five living in the area were not vaccinated and protected from the virus.
This is the ninth case in Afghanistan in 2019. This year, one polio case was reported from Kunar, two cases from Kandahar, three cases from Helmand and three from Urozgan provinces.
The Afghan Minister of Public Health, Dr. Ferozuddin Feroz expressed his deepest concern saying that inaccessibility is a big challenge for the programme, he calls on everyone to work together to vaccinate every child and protect their rights to a healthy life. "The eradication of polio virus cannot be achieved unless 95% of the under five population in Afghanistan is reached, and we should work together to push for consistent access to eradicate polio."
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure and the polio vaccine is the only safe and effective way to protect children. All children should be vaccinated against polio during each campaign, until they reach the age of five. House-to-house vaccination is the only effective way to achieve polio eradication because it means every child has access to vaccination. This strategy has been implemented in all countries, and has proven to be most effective. However, if parents live in areas where there is no house-to-house campaign available, they should take their children to the local health facility for free polio vaccine.
The polio vaccine is safe, even for sick and newborn children. It is very important that newborns and sick children get the vaccine, because they may have lower immunity which makes them more susceptible to the virus.
Polio vaccination has also been strongly endorsed by national and global Islamic scholars.
The Global Polio Eradication Program is a neutral programme with the sole purpose of eradicating the disease. There are now three countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic.
This is the ninth case in Afghanistan in 2019. This year, one polio case was reported from Kunar, two cases from Kandahar, three cases from Helmand and three from Urozgan provinces.
The Afghan Minister of Public Health, Dr. Ferozuddin Feroz expressed his deepest concern saying that inaccessibility is a big challenge for the programme, he calls on everyone to work together to vaccinate every child and protect their rights to a healthy life. "The eradication of polio virus cannot be achieved unless 95% of the under five population in Afghanistan is reached, and we should work together to push for consistent access to eradicate polio."
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure and the polio vaccine is the only safe and effective way to protect children. All children should be vaccinated against polio during each campaign, until they reach the age of five. House-to-house vaccination is the only effective way to achieve polio eradication because it means every child has access to vaccination. This strategy has been implemented in all countries, and has proven to be most effective. However, if parents live in areas where there is no house-to-house campaign available, they should take their children to the local health facility for free polio vaccine.
The polio vaccine is safe, even for sick and newborn children. It is very important that newborns and sick children get the vaccine, because they may have lower immunity which makes them more susceptible to the virus.
Polio vaccination has also been strongly endorsed by national and global Islamic scholars.
The Global Polio Eradication Program is a neutral programme with the sole purpose of eradicating the disease. There are now three countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)
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