KABUL (SW) – The United Nations Children’s Fund has expressed concerns about spreading of the polio virus in Afghanistan.
After registering three new polio cases in eastern Afghanistan this year, UNICEF says that the spread of this virus due to the movement of citizens to Pakistan has caused an increase in polio cases.
Kamal Shah Seyed, the communications officer of the polio program at the UNICEF office in Afghanistan, told Salam Watandar that if the spread of polio in eastern Afghanistan is not prevented, it is likely to spread to other parts of the country.
He said that in order to prevent the increase in cases of polio, it is going to start a vaccination campaign against this disease in eastern Afghanistan next month. According to him, 1 million and 100,000 children under the age of five will be vaccinated in this event.
Kamal Shah Seyed said that 10 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan are supposed to be vaccinated in the nationwide campaign. In the current year, three cases of polio have been recorded in Nangarhar.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are still the only countries where polio has not been completely eradicated.
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