The Fight to End Polio in Afghanistan

Released on the occasion of World Polio Day 2016, this video explores how the World Health Organization (WHO) is working with the Government of Afghanistan, local communities, and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to finally rid this polio-endemic country of the disease.

Communication strategies and activities form a key part of these collaborative efforts. For instance, the video features an imam encouraging members of his worship community to ensure that every child under the age of five receives two drops of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) during every immunisation round. As is explained here, there is no cure for polio, so the only way to stop the virus is through vaccination. Since 1988, when the GPEI began, more than 2.5 billion children worldwide have been immunised against this crippling disease.

Despite progress, cessation of transmission of the wild polio virus (WPV) in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan has yet to be achieved. The video outlines some of the challenges that Afghan polio teams face during the four yearly campaigns, in which WHO and polio partners vaccinate over 9 million children by going from house to house. (Additional campaigns take place in high-risk areas.) As noted here, vaccinating every child across the country requires careful planning and monitoring among collaborators in the effort. WHO also supports a surveillance system that detects cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), a major indicator for polio, through a country-wide network of polio workers and volunteers.

The video, which could be used as a tool for informing and mobilising parents, ends with by stressing that we cannot stop now, as Afghanistan is closer than ever to stopping polio for good - to the benefit of children everywhere. "Protect your children: two drops every child under five every vaccination round."