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Outbreak update – Dengue fever in Afghanistan, 4 August 2022
4 August 2022 – A new wave of dengue fever has been confirmed in Afghanistan with a total of 64 cases reported between 12 June and 30 July 2022 from Nangarhar province only, with no associated deaths. Of the 64 reported cases, 47 (73.4%) were female, and all were over 5 years of age. “Afghanistan is already battling a mix of complex humanitarian...
WHO’s polio team responds to devastating earthquake in Afghanistan
5 July 2022 – When disaster strikes, coordination is key. Within hours of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake striking the communities of Afghanistan’s South East in the early morning of 22 June, WHO’s polio team was on the ground joining forces with UN agencies and NGOs to ensure an effective and coordinated relief effort. As dawn broke across the...
Measles vaccination campaign kicks off in Afghanistan to fight ongoing outbreak: around 1.2 million children in 24 provinces to get vaccinated
WHO Representative in Afghanistan Dr Luo Dapeng joins the measles vaccination campaign and vaccinates a child in Malek Mohammad Khan District Hospital in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on 13 March 2022 Kabul, 14 March 2022 – More than 1.2 million children aged 6–59 months are planned to be vaccinated during the ongoing measles vaccination campaign in...
Statement condemning killing of 8 polio health workers in Afghanistan
By Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean 24 February 2022, Cairo, Egypt – I am shocked and deeply outraged by the killing of 8 polio health workers, 4 of them women, in Afghanistan today. I extend my deepest condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those who have lost their lives. As a result of...
First polio vaccination campaign for 2022 under way
Kabul, 17 January 2022 – The first national polio immunization campaign for 2022 begins this week, 17-20 January 2022, targeting 9.9 million children aged 0–59 months across the country. The recent campaign in November 2021 delivered polio vaccinations to 8.5 million children under the age of 5 while the December campaign vaccinated more than 8 million...
USAID helps WHO train front line providers in basic emergency care in Afghanistan
Kabul, 16 December 2021 – In response to the current gap in Afghanistan in standardized management of trauma patients and to improve survivability from injuries, the World Health Organization (WHO) organized a 10-day training in the WHO/ICRC Basic Emergency Care Course in Kabul from 7 to 16 December 2021. Funded by USAID, the course aimed to...
December polio vaccination campaign begins
KABUL, 13 December 2021 - The fourth round of a national polio immunization campaign begins this week (13–16 December 2021), and will be synchronized with Pakistan to improve cross-border polio eradication efforts. The campaign targets 9.9 million children aged 0–59 months across the country and is scheduled to start later this month in some parts...
Doing whatever it takes to keep lifesaving health services going
23 November 2021 – With all the odds against her – born too early, born too small – the tiny baby in the neonatal intensive care ward at Malalay Maternity Hospital in Kabul is still clinging on, struggling for every breath, grasping every extra minute of life. She does not know it, but those caring for her are also struggling on, minute by...
One shining light: how medical supplies airlifted to Afghanistan have been used to save lives
14 November 2021 – At 70 years of age, with life getting ever more difficult and food more scarce, an attack of watery diarrhoea was enough to tip Amina into critical condition. In desperation, Rana, the junior wife in their household of 12, brought Amina to the National Infectious Diseases hospital hoping for some help. And help there was. As...
New shipment of WHO life-saving medical supplies lands in Kabul with support from Qatar
Kabul/Cairo, 7 November 2021 – An aircraft carrying around 7 metric tonnes of life-saving medicines and supplies from WHO landed in Kabul on 4 November at 11:30 local time. The shipment was delivered in collaboration with the operations and logistic teams of Qatar Airways and the Government of the State of Qatar. This is the fourth flight...
