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Polio is a devastating contagious and incurable disease which can cause paralysis. It primarily affects children under the age of five, but is easily preventable with a simple vaccine. For the last three years, the Taliban in Afghanistan have prevented a nationwide programme of vaccination because they have regarded it as un-Islamic and have suspected those who administer it, of being spies. But now a four-day immunisation campaign has begun. Unicef have said the house-to-house effort aims to reach nearly ten million Afghan children under the age of five.

Dr Dastagir Nazary used to run Afghanistan's polio immunisation programme and is the former Director General for immunisation services and a former spokesman for the Afghan Public Health Ministry. He left the country when the Taliban took over. He says the change of heart may be because of the deteriorating economic situation and the fact that the Taliban will be seen to be responsible for any future cases of polio in the country.

Photo: An Afghan health worker administers polio and vitamins drops during a vaccination drive in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 2021 Credit: AFP