By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
May 13, 2023
Afghanistan on May 13 reported its first polio case this year after a 4-year-old child was diagnosed with the crippling disease. Kamal Shah, the head of the communications department of the UNICEF Polio Eradication Program in Afghanistan, told RFE/RL the case was recorded in the Bati-Kot district of the eastern province of Nangarhar. Two cases were recorded last year. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world where wild polio is still endemic. The viral disease can only be prevented by vaccination. Islamic militants often target polio-vaccination teams, falsely claiming the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.