WHO Warning About Intensification of Polio Virus in Southern Afghanistan

DID Press: World Health Organization announced that the transmission of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) continues in Afghanistan, and the southern areas of the country have reported the highest number of cases.

According to this organization, in the latest report published from the 44th meeting of the Polio Emergency Committee, five new cases of WPV1 infection were recorded in 2025 in Afghanistan. Based on this report, intense virus transmission is observed particularly in the southern and eastern regions of the country.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday, in a statement, announced that the spread of the virus in southern Afghanistan has intensified due to inadequate vaccination coverage and restrictions in implementing house-to-house vaccination campaigns.

The Emergency Committee also expressed concern about the limited presence of female staff in the health sector and warned that this issue complicates access to young children, especially in conservative communities.

This international organization emphasized that Afghanistan and Pakistan act as a single epidemiological block, and the continued transmission of the virus at the shared borders increases the risk of further spread of the disease to other areas.