Afghanistan - 2015 Polio- anti-polio worker murdered

[Gert van der Hoek]

Sun Sep 06, 2015 4:35

Another Polio Case Reported in Afghanistan's Nimroz


TEHRAN (FNA)-

A new case of polio has been registered in Nimroz province, officials at the Afghan Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday.

The patient is a three-year-old toddler from Zarang district, in the Southwestern province and has apparently lost the use of one leg. The case was confirmed last week and is now the ninth confirmed case of polio in Afghanistan this year, said officials, Tolonews reported.
The National Polio Communication Officer at the Health Ministry Maiwand Ahmadzai said the victim was, according to his family, vaccinated recently. However, his family said relatives from Bakwa district in Western Farah province visited them a while back – the province that last month reported the previous polio case.

Ahmadzai said that this comes after serious efforts are being conducted by health officials to vaccinate all children in the province.
He said this is the first recorded case in Nimroz in 15 years, but the second case to be detected in the southern region this year.
However, the Health Ministry officials have stepped in to ensure children are safe and after launching an investigation into the matter, health officials on Sunday went into the area to start vaccinating children that have slipped through the cracks.

"We have launched another vaccination campaign today in the whole of Zarang and it will continue for three days," he said.
"In the past 15 years we haven't had any cases from the north-west but in less than two months we have had two – one in Nimroz and one in Farah."

He said that "previously we had polio cases from Southern provinces especially from Kandahar but this has declined. When we find any polio cases anywhere, we immediately launch vaccination campaigns," he said.

He went on to say that a vaccination campaign is also underway in Achin district in Dastern Nangarhar province after a polio case was recorded there recently. This will also continue for three days.

"The seventh case has been registered in Achin district of Nangarhar. We have also launched a vaccination campaign there."
Despite an injection of millions of dollars into the health sector and concerted effort on the part of health officials, Afghanistan still lags behind in stamping out the virus – which has been eradicated across the globe except in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.albawaba.com/news/suspected-polio-outbreak-afghanistan-774742

Suspected polio outbreak in Afghanistan
Published November 29th, 2015 - 15:00 GMT

Seventy-five suspected cases of polio have been reported in southern Helmand province where insecurity recently deprived about 10,000 children from polio drops, an official said on Sunday.

Provincial Public Health Department official Dr. Abdul Ahad Hazim told Pajhwok Afghan News the 10,000 children could not be administrated polio vaccines in central and northern districts of the province due to insecurity...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/world/gunm...volunteer-in-afghanistan-reuters-2563260.html

Gunmen kill woman anti-polio volunteer in Afghanistan | Reuters
Dec 29, 2015 02:16 IST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a female polio vaccination campaigner in Afghanistan on Monday and seriously wounded her granddaughter, officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but Islamists in some parts of the world believe campaigns against the crippling disease are a plot against Muslims or an attempt to spy on militants...