[Tolo News] A new case of polio has been registered in Nimroz province, officials at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) confirmed on Sunday.Afghanistan's soon gonna be as bad as Pakistain.
The patient is a three-year-old toddler from Zarang district, in the south-western 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.
The National Polio Communication Officer at the MOPH Dr. 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 told TOLOnews.com 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, MoPH 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 eastern 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."