UNICEF to begin country-wide polio vaccination in Afghanistan

The UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has announced that they will launch the first country-wide polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan on Monday.

This comes after the Taliban allowed UNICEF to conduct the vaccination around the country after discussion with UN agency, The Khaama Press News Agency reported.

For the polio vaccination which is set to start on November 8, UNICEF has asked parents to get their children vaccinated to prevent paralysis of their children.

Last month, the WHO had welcomed the decision of the Taliban to allow polio vaccination of children in Afghanistan.

The campaign will be the first in three years that reaches the entire country including 3.3 million children who were previously deprived of the vaccine.

Dapeng Luo, the WHO representative in Afghanistan, had last month expressed gratitude for the decision.

Underlining that multiple doses of oral polio vaccine offer the best protection, Luo had said: "We are pleased to see that there is another campaign planned before the end of this year."

Luo had stressed that sustained access to all children is "essential to end polio" for good.

Meanwhile, UNICEF in Afghanistan is setting out plans with its partners to fully eradicate polio from the country. Children aged from 6 years to 59 months will be given vaccines under the programme.

( With inputs from ANI )