Local sources say that the Taliban’s restrictions on door-to-door polio vaccination campaigns in southern Afghanistan have made it difficult for some children to access the vaccine.
Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Saturday, August 29, that following the Taliban takeover, door-to-door vaccination campaigns were halted in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul, and polio vaccines are now administered from mosque to mosque.
A source from the vaccination programme in the southern region claims that as a result of these restrictions, 30 to 35 percent of children in the region are being deprived of polio vaccination.
Residents of these provinces say the Taliban’s decision has prevented some children from receiving the vaccine properly and completely.
The sources add that vaccination programme officials have repeatedly tried to persuade the Taliban to allow door-to-door vaccination campaigns.
According to the sources, the Taliban have told vaccination officials that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s leader, does not permit door-to-door vaccination campaigns in the region “for security reasons.”
