RASC News Agency: The Polio-Free Afghanistan initiative has issued an urgent warning to all Afghanistanī migrant families returning from Pakistan, urging them to vaccinate their children against polio without delay, as the risk of a national resurgence grows alarmingly high. In a public statement released on Monday, July 7, via X (formerly Twitter), the organization cautioned that negligence in administering polio vaccines could lead to a sharp rise in paralysis cases among children across Afghanistan. “The only effective defense against polio,” the message stressed, “is the complete and timely administration of all polio vaccine doses.”
The initiative called on both the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Public Health and international health agencies to prioritize the immunization of newly returned children and to take immediate, proactive measures to ensure no child is left unprotected. The World Health Organization (WHO) has echoed these concerns in recent years, warning of a dangerous increase in confirmed polio cases across Afghanistan. According to WHO figures, at least two positive cases were recorded last year in the provinces of Helmand and Badghis an alarming sign that the virus remains endemic and continues to spread silently in vulnerable communities.
Experts attribute much of this resurgence to the Taliban’s sustained obstruction of vaccination campaigns. In recent years, the Taliban have banned UNICEF’s door-to-door immunization programs, which previously reached millions of children in remote areas. Instead, the regime has forced vaccination teams to operate from mosques, requiring parents to bring their children to designated religious sites. The WHO has strongly criticized this approach, deeming it ineffective and dangerous. Health officials argue that relying solely on fixed mosque-based distribution points leaves many children unvaccinated, especially those whose families face logistical, economic, or cultural barriers to travel. “This strategy cannot guarantee universal coverage,” the WHO warned, “and risks undermining decades of progress in the fight against polio.”
Health experts fear that if these policies continue, Afghanistan may face a full-scale public health reversal, with the dream of eradicating polio slipping further out of reach. The country, alongside Pakistan, remains one of only two nations in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic a stark reminder of how political interference and systemic neglect can sustain diseases that are otherwise preventable. Despite growing concern from global health authorities, the Taliban have failed to implement a comprehensive nationwide strategy, and have shown little political will to support scientific, community-based health models. As a result, thousands of children particularly those in rural and migrant communities remain at risk of a life-altering but entirely preventable disease.
As Afghanistan faces this renewed threat, public health advocates are calling on the international community not only to reinvest in the country’s collapsing health infrastructure, but also to demand accountability from Taliban authorities, whose obstructionism continues to cost innocent lives.
