According to the government sources, a polio eradication campaign has been launched in 14 bordering provinces of the country. This campaign would reach to 4 million children and would bring almost the final strokes to completely eradicate the country from this disease. Afghanistan, along with Pakistan and Nigeria, is one of the three countries that are yet to be made absolutely polio-free and efforts are underway to make the country free of polio. The campaign has been launched in Kabul and provinces in East, South, West and South-West parts of the country. It must be kept in mind that the polio issue was refreshed after a polio case was reported in the capital city of Kabul. Similarly, one case was recorded in each of Badakhshan and Laghman provinces. There were 80 cases of polio in 2011, 37 cases in 2012 and 14 cases in 2014 while these cases gradually decreased due to the increased and extended anti-polio campaigns in different parts of the country. It must be kept in mind that most of these cases were reported in the provinces bordering Pakistan where militancy has really harmed the anti-polio drive and polio cases have considerably increased in these areas.

Polio is one of the most drastic diseases that cannot be easily cured once a person falls victim to it. But luckily it is one of the diseases that have their cure in the form of vaccines given to the children before the age of 5 which makes sure that the child will never get infected in his or her lifetime. The polio eradication campaigns are undertaken to make the country absolutely free of this disease and once this disease is fully controlled, polio cases are completely finished. When the polio drive started, number of countries completely free of polio started increasing and now only three countries are remaining where the polio cases have been reported. Unfortunately, these three countries are still under military unrest and this is the reason that the campaigns have mostly come under the threat of military resistance.

The worst example was experienced in Pakistan where polio-campaigns were termed to be ‘Non-Islamic’ and polio vaccinators were attacked by the militants. Many vaccinators were killed and as a result, the drive in different parts of the country had to be rolled back. Consequently, the polio cases were also increased in these areas. At present, there is present a warm and positive perception about polio vaccines in our country and this is a very ideal situation when this virus can completely be eradicated. At the same time, different government organizations can work to make better the public opinion about the polio vaccines.