UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Tuesday, reported that it has resumed its Polio Vaccination Campaigns in the last two polio-endemic countries of the world – Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The campaign had earlier got severely disrupted in these two countries due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Due to the disruption in programmes, polio cases in Pakistan surged to 63 while in Afghanistan, it rose to 34.
According to UNICEF, the programmes will likely be restarted across Pakistan and almost half of Afghanistan by this month. Last month, the vaccination drives reached a total of 780,000 children and three provinces of these two countries.
Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia commented, “These life-saving vaccinations are critical if children are to avoid yet another health emergency.”
UNICEF stated that it is committed to reaching every child with its programmes. However, it raised concerns on the success of its programme in Afghanistan as there are some remote areas where it cannot reach to provide vaccination to children against Polio.