Taliban suspends polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan: UN

The Taliban has suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN said.

News of the suspension was relayed to UN agencies on Monday right before the September immunisation campaign was due to start.

No reason was given for the suspension, and no one from the Taliban administration was immediately available for comment.

Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralysing disease has never been stopped.

Recent policy discussions

A top official from the World Health Organization said it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead have immunisations in places like mosques.

The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That's up from six cases in 2023.

"The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is aware of the recent policy discussions on shifting from house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns to site-to-site vaccination in parts of Afghanistan," said Dr Hamid Jafari from the WHO.

"Partners are in the process of discussing and understanding the scope and impact of any change in current policy."

Nationwide campaign

As recently as August, the WHO reported that Afghanistan and Pakistan were continuing to implement an "intensive and synchronised campaign" focusing on improved vaccination coverage in endemic zones and an effective and timely response to detections elsewhere.

During a June 2024 nationwide campaign, Afghanistan used a house-to-house vaccination strategy for the first time in five years, a tactic that helped to reach the majority of children targeted, the WHO said.

But southern Kandahar province, the base of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, used site-to-site or mosque-to-mosque vaccination campaigns.

Kandahar continues to have a large pool of susceptible children because it is not carrying out house-to-house vaccinations, the WHO said.