Afghanistan is closer than ever to eradicating polio. WHO, together with partners in the Polio Eradication Initiative, is stepping up efforts to reach every single child with polio vaccines and to trace and stop every last poliovirus. Through this photo essay, see how polio workers and new interventions across Afghanistan are making a difference, bringing Afghanistan closer to the finish line for polio eradication.
Credit: WHO Afghanistan/S.Ramo
1) Introducing a new a revisit strategy
More children are reached during vaccination campaigns due to a modified and expanded revisit strategy. In line with the new strategy, vaccination teams revisit households where one or more children were missed from vaccination during the first team visit during the campaign week. Vaccination campaigns run from Mondays to Wednesdays, with a re-visit day on Friday when vaccinators go to households and public places like parks and markets to find children who have not yet been vaccinated. In this photo, Zahra marks the pinky finger of a child after vaccinating her during a picnic in a women’s garden in Kabul on a Friday re-visit.