KABUL, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Public Health Ministry launched a five-day campaign on Monday to give immunity vaccination dose to 6.4 million children under the age of five in 27 of the country's 34 provinces, the ministry said in a statement.
"Polio vaccination teams will visit 6.4 million children under the age of five in 27 high-risk provinces, mainly in Kandahar and Nangarhar. This follows several new cases in both regions," the statement read.
The drive was launched as a fresh polio case was detected in Afghanistan earlier this month, bringing to 14 the number of confirmed cases of polio virus since January this year, according to the statement.
"Polio is a crippling and a potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure and the polio vaccine is the only safe and effective way to protect children." It added.
In early August, the ministry with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), launched a nationwide campaign targeting 9.9 million children under the age of five.
The ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering the efforts to stamp out the infectious disease in the mountainous country as 1.2 million children from areas inaccessible to vaccination teams missed the latest vaccination drive.
