GHOR (SW) – Ghor health officials say the Taliban have prevented polio vaccination drive in many remote parts of the province.
Juma Gul Yaqubi, the head of public health department, said at a meeting to commemorate World Polio Day in the province that 70 per cent of children here were deprived of the polio vaccine because of the Taliban threats. According to him, out of 192,899 children, only 47,257 children were vaccinated in two rounds of the campaign.
Fazl al-Haq Ehsan, the head of the provincial council, said on the occasion that the situation was worrying. He added the Taliban had just killed two women while they were providing health services in Feroz Koh city.
Ghor civil activists also see the situation as worrying and urge all groups, especially the Taliban, not to impede the implementation of the polio vaccine in the province.
The Taliban have not yet commented on the matter.
According to health officials, 19 positive polio cases have been recorded nationwide since the beginning of the year.
ENDS
