KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A new polio vaccination campaign began across 31 provinces in Afghanistan on Monday, marking the country’s first nationwide immunization drive of 2026 in one of only two countries where the virus remains endemic, the “Polio Free Afghanistan” initiative said.
In a post on X, the initiative said the campaign does not include the central provinces of Daykundi, Bamyan, and Ghor. It added that the campaign in Ghor will begin a week later, while the campaigns in Daykundi and Bamyan have been postponed due to cold weather.
The initiative did not provide further operational details. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the campaign will run until April 16 and aims to vaccinate about 12.6 million children under the age of five.
UNICEF urged parents, caregivers, and community leaders to cooperate with vaccination teams to ensure no eligible child is missed. “Polio has no cure. But it is preventable,” the agency said, adding that sustained efforts are needed to stop transmission.
The campaign comes weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of continued spread of the virus, particularly in southern regions, citing low vaccination coverage and restrictions on house-to-house immunization campaigns.
WHO called on Taliban authorities to expand site-to-site campaigns and explore feasible house-to-house strategies to curb transmission through 2026, stressing the importance of reaching children in high-risk and hard-to-access areas.
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan remain the only countries where wild poliovirus continues to circulate, despite decades of global eradication efforts. Health officials say frequent cross-border movement between the two countries increases the risk of transmission.
No polio cases have been reported in Afghanistan so far this year. In 2025, the country recorded nine confirmed cases, most of them in eastern and southern provinces.
Pakistan reported 31 cases in 2025, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, which share long borders with Afghanistan and are considered high-risk areas.
Polio eradication efforts in both countries continue to face challenges, including insecurity in some areas, logistical constraints, and vaccine hesitancy among some communities, with some families declining vaccination due to misinformation and distrust.
