Mass mobilisation against polio in Afghanistan

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan), 13 October 2000 - Despite some reported cease-fire violations in Takhar and other areas, the fall round of National Immunisation Days (NIDs) for polio eradication was successfully inaugurated in six regions of Afghanistan - North, South, East, West, Central, and Southeast. In Badakhshan and Takhar, the cease-fire allowed movement of staff and supplies for the campaign. However, due to logistical delays, immunisation is now scheduled from 14 to 16 October.
The UN Co-ordinator's Office requests both parties in Afghanistan to continue a cease-fire up to 17 October so that every child in Afghanistan can be protected from polio.

Under the leadership of WHO, UNICEF, and the Ministry of Public Health, National Immunisation Days in Afghanistan require complex logistics and tight co-ordination countrywide. This is only possible with the countrywide participation of local authorities, UN agencies, and NGOs. Tens of thousands of staff and volunteers contributed their time all over Afghanistan, including in the most remote and hard to reach areas.

Local authorities throughout the country provided full support to the campaign. Participating authorities included the Minister of Public Health Mullah Mohammad Abbas Akhund, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai (Deputy Minister of Public Health), the Health Director of the Department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, provincial governors, deputy provincial and district governors, heads of provincial and regional public health ministries, provincial heads of ministries and departments, hospital directors, the Director of Ministry of Culture and Information, the Director of Vice and Virtue (Herat), and shura heads.

Participating NGOs included SC-US, IFRC, CHA, SCA, IAM, ACF, TODAI, MSF, DAC, NPO, DACAAR, AHDS, Guardians, Ibnsina, NAC, CARE, ARCS, HAFO, ICRC, IAHC, and FOCUS. All UN agencies also participated.

A special attempt was made to reach children on the move, displaced children, and nomads. In Kabul, floating campaign teams covered children at check-posts, main bus stops, markets, and Kabul airport. In western Afghanistan, the campaign reached camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the transit camp of the recently repatriated refugees. In southern Afghanistan, special focus was placed on IDPs and nomads settled in the suburbs. Thanks to the cease-fire, the children in Panjshir Valley also benefited from vaccination.

In Herat City in western Afghanistan, over 100 women students from the nursing school dressed in white gowns and carrying flags and banners marched in the inaugural NIDs parade. The Ministry of Vice and Virtue in Herat mobilised imams and khatibs to participate with public announcements and helped in monitoring campaign coverage on the first day.

If the cease-fire holds, the children of Afghanistan and their parents can look forward to a celebration of the last polio case by the end of 2001. Certification of Afghanistan as a "polio-free" state can then progress on target by 2005.

For more information, please contact:

Jet Vandergaag, Acting Information Officer, UNICEF Afghanistan 2213437.
Dr. Naveed Sadozai, Medical Officer, EPI, WHO Afghanistan 2252272