2024-09-17 15:47:30
The withdrawal of the Taliban regime into itself knows few and few limits. After Kabul refused to accept calls from the world to review its policy of eradicating women from social life, Afghan Islamists are attacking the UN campaign against polio. Monday September 16, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the wave of vaccinations that will begin in Afghanistan has been suspended. This country is the last, along with Pakistan, where the disease is at an end.
WHO regional director Hamid Jafari said talks are underway with Taliban officials to decide on a new date. On Tuesday, after denying this sudden suspension, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health explained that his country ” want[ait] use more professional methods to stop the spread of the disease”. According to the WHO, the Taliban want to vaccinate in mosques or public places under their control and no longer use the door-to-door approach.
Low rate of inclusion of women
For UN, this decision “may have adverse effects, especially on the youth of the country”. This virus is one of the most epidemic in the world and unvaccinated children are the first to spread the disease which can cause death or paralysis. The interruption of this vaccination campaign could reverse years of progress in health protection.
WHO recalls that eighteen cases of polio have been recorded in Afghanistan in the past eight months, mainly in the south of the country. A number compared to 2023 which has been six cases. Diplomat, Dr. Hamid Jafari of WHO confirmed that “All stakeholders are in discussions to understand the scope and impact of any changes to the current polio eradication policy”. These discussions can be carried out because they do not only involve questions of effectiveness, but also, and above all, the government’s idea of its government and the adequacy of the fight against polio with its idea of Islamic law.
During the summer, the WHO announced that Afghanistan and Pakistan had carried out a project “intensive and synergistic advertising” to improve local immunity. For the first time since 2019, WHO was able to go door to door in June, which made it possible to reach, according to him, most of the targeted children. Only in the southern province of Kandahar, the stronghold of the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has ordered the use of public spaces that have been turned into vaccination sites, especially mosques, which are visible. “Very effective” according to UN experts. Another mistake, they say, concerns “ The average rate of inclusion of women in vaccination campaigns, of the order of 20%, which has the effect of increasing the number of infected children..
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