Afghan health ministry launches polio vaccination drive targeting 9.1 million children

"This is the second general polio vaccination campaign in 2022 aimed at vaccinating 9.1 million children under the age of five," Xinhua quoted the ministry statement. 

Provinces including Bamyan, Daykundi, and Ghor as well as some districts of Ghazni and Badakhshan provinces are not included in the ongoing campaign due to cold weather, the ministry statement said. 

The three-day campaign was launched in collaboration with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the ministry statement said. 

Afghanistan remains one of only two countries where the disease is still endemic. The other is Pakistan.