12 May 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy recently wrapped up a 3-day visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, following her high-level mission to neighbouring Pakistan with the Chair of the Polio Oversight Board and partners from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
In Afghanistan, Dr Balkhy met with the de facto authorities and health partners in Kabul to discuss critical health issues, focusing on promoting equitable access to health care; empowering girls and women; expanding health workforce education; addressing substance use disorders; and eradicating polio.
As one of the 2 countries in which wild poliovirus remains endemic, Afghanistan has made incremental progress to end transmission since resuming polio immunization campaigns in November 2021. During her visit, Dr Balkhy, together with UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Mr Sanjay Wijesekera, engaged with partners and stakeholders to underscore WHO and GPEI’s commitment to close the remaining gaps for polio eradication in the country and end polio for good.
With just 3 polio cases reported in 2024 and the virus restricted to the country’s East and South regions, Afghanistan currently has its best chance to eradicate polio. The recent announcement by top leadership to reinstate house-to-house polio vaccination activities in the South region is a key development that will enable the polio eradication programme to reach