Child getting polio drops (file photo)

Amu: The second subnational polio vaccination campaign of the year was launched in 20 provinces of the country, with the Taliban health ministry saying the effort aims to immunize 8.3 million children. The campaign will continue for three days. Noor Jalal Jalali, the Taliban’s minister of public health, said the ministry remained committed to eliminating polio in coordination with international partners. Afghanistan remains one of only two countries in the world where transmission of wild poliovirus has never been fully interrupted, alongside neighboring Pakistan. According to the World Health Organization, nine cases of wild poliovirus type 1 were reported in Afghanistan in 2025, compared with 25 cases recorded during all of 2024. Click here to read more (external link).