Taliban restrictions on women jeopardise Afghanistan's fight against polio

Afghanistan's fight against polio has suffered a setback because the Taliban, who control the country's government, decided to halt the vaccination campaign there. This decision was made just days before the vaccination campaign was scheduled to begin. Given that 18 cases of polio have been confirmed in Afghanistan this year, the World Health Organization report represents a major setback for the country's efforts to eradicate the disease. There are three times as many cases as expected in 2023 (six in total). Since the virus is one of the most contagious in the world, unvaccinated child populations in areas where the virus is spreading could undo years of progress.

“The reason for the postponement of the polio campaign is problems with the way it is being implemented,” the health official told The Guardian on condition of anonymity. “The leadership of the current government has ordered us not to conduct door-to-door campaigns.”

Instead, the Taliban government wants to shift vaccination efforts to local mosques and assumes that families will bring their children for vaccination.

“This is very bad news for the polio program,” the official said. “For eradication to be successful, we need to provide more than 95 percent of children with two doses of the vaccine.”

“But without the door-to-door campaigns, we will not be able to [that target]. It endangers the whole country, even the region.”

Accordingly The GuardianWhile the Taliban have excluded women from working in numerous sectors, women in the health sector have largely been allowed to remain in their jobs.

However, the health worker said: “Women in the southern regions, especially in rural areas, face restrictions from local authorities when it comes to participating in the programme.”

The health official agreed. “Women were crucial to the success of the house-to-house campaigns and to raising awareness about vaccination among mothers and families, as men would be barred from entering these spaces in a deeply conservative society,” they said.

According to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries where polio is still endemic. In Afghanistan, despite the continuous efforts of the polio programme to achieve polio-free country status, the battle to reach the last mile has become a critical challenge, resulting in a rise in polio cases over the past three years. Unfortunately, the polio virus is currently spreading in the provinces that have long been polio-free.