Afghan Children Will Be Vaccinated Against Polio

Child being vaccinated

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health, working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is currently conducting a major campaign to vaccinate an estimated 7.7 million children under the age of 5 against polio. Polio which is short for poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious disease that affects the nervous system and can lead to partial or full paralysis. While the disease has been virtually eliminated in most of the world, it is still prevalent in Afghanistan and 3 other countries. Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, officially kicked off the event on Sunday by administering two drops of the polio vaccine into the mouth of a child. A similar polio vaccination campaign was done last month and it targeted an estimated 2.8 million children. Hopefully, this disease will be permanently eliminated from Afghanistan as well.

March 16, 2010 · admin · No Comments
Posted in: Health News