KABUL - From 26-28 July the Ministry of Public Health, with support of UNICEF, WHO and partners from the civil society are organizing the 4th National Immunization Days.

The aim is to immunize all children in the age group at risk or 7.7 Million children aged between six and 59 months against polio.

After a decline between 1999 and 2005, polio had resurged in Afghanistan in 2006 mainly due to a deteriorated security situation, which prevented access to many villages. Today the wild polio virus is endemic only in the Southern Region of Afghanistan, while about 80 percent of Afghan children live in polio-free areas. So far thirteen polio cases have been reported in 2009. Polio has been eradicated in all but four countries - Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan the major challenge in fighting the deadly disease is the limited access to children, especially in the southern and eastern regions, where supervision and monitoring are limited, and health infrastructure inadequate. The insufficient number of female vaccination agents and the continued movement of populations from polio free areas to polio endemic areas and vice-versa, both within the country and across the border with Pakistan are additional difficulties to overcome.

To increase the knowledge and motivation of communities, especially of women for the immunization of their children UNICEF as leader in development communication has supported the Afghan Government in designing various strategies, including community mobilization via elders and local stakeholders, set-up of Women Courtyards for female caregivers, negotiation with political parties to ensure their commitment in the fight against polio and widespread dissemination through national and regional radios. Thanks to support of the Ministry of Religious Affairs mosques are being used for the dissemination of information via religious leaders.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative [GPEI], the largest public health initiative in history, was launched in 1988 resulting in a dramatic reduction of wild poliovirus transmissions. Compared to 350,000 cases worldwide in 1988, less than 1,600 cases were registered in 2008. GPEI is spearheaded by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and Rotary International. Programmes are implemented by the respective national governments with support from donors and partners. Partners from the civil society include but are not limited to Afghan Health Development Services [AHDS], Ibni-Sina, the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC], the Canadian International Development Agency [CIDA] and the Norwegian Refugee Council [NRC].

In 2009 six rounds of National Immunization Days and three rounds of Sub- National Immunization Days are planned in Afghanistan, covering close to 7.7 million children each time. During the 3rd National Immunization Days, organized in May 2009, close to 98 percent of children in the targeted age group received oral polio vaccination and Vitamin A.