KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, under the Taliban administration, has announced the launch of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign across 18 provinces.
According to the ministry, the campaign began on Monday (February 2) in 15 provinces, including the capital Kabul, and will continue until Thursday. In the provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul, vaccinations are scheduled to start on Tuesday and run through Friday.
The ministry added that a separate round of vaccinations will begin next Monday in two districts of Faryab province and two districts of Badghis province.
Health officials say that approximately 7.3 million children under the age of five are expected to receive the polio vaccine during the campaign.
This is the first nationwide polio vaccination drive in Afghanistan in 2026.
In 2025, nine positive cases of polio were recorded in the country. These included one case in Uruzgan, three in Helmand, one in Badghis, one in Nuristan, two in Paktika and one in Farah.
So far this year, no new cases of polio have been officially reported in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been completely eradicated.
