KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Polio Free Afghanistan said on X that a new polio vaccination campaign will begin tomorrow (Tuesday, July 7) in Kandahar and Helmand provinces located in southern Afghanistan.
According to a statement published by the page, the campaign will be conducted in Kandahar city, Lashkargah city, the capital of Helmand province, and the districts of Nahr-e Saraj, Musa Qala, Washir, Nad Ali, and Marjah.
The Polio Free Afghanistan page urged all families in the two provinces to ensure that their children under the age of five receive the polio vaccine so that the disease can be eradicated from Afghanistan.
According to the World Health Organization, six confirmed human cases and 34 positive environmental samples of poliovirus have been recorded in Afghanistan so far this year.
In 2025, Afghanistan recorded a total of 21 confirmed human polio cases and 94 positive environmental samples.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated.
The announcement comes a day after Dr. Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said during a meeting with Taliban officials that polio could be eradicated from Afghanistan within the next 12 months if coordination efforts are further strengthened.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects children under five. It spreads through contaminated food, water or close contact and can cause permanent paralysis or death.
There is no cure for polio, but safe and effective vaccines can prevent it. Global eradication efforts have reduced wild poliovirus cases by more than 99% since 1988, but transmission has persisted in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Vaccination drives in both countries continue to face significant obstacles. Security issues, difficult terrain, and community resistance driven by misinformation, including unfounded claims that the vaccine causes infertility or serves espionage purposes, have hampered coverage in some areas.
The WHO has repeatedly emphasized that achieving and sustaining high vaccination coverage, maintaining uninterrupted immunization campaigns, and ensuring access to all children remain essential to eliminating polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the world’s last two polio-endemic countries.
