The Taliban have recently decided to suspend polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, a move that has raised concerns about the spread of the potentially fatal disease in the country. Afghanistan, along with Pakistan, is one of the two countries where the transmission of polio has never been fully halted.
The decision to suspend the vaccination campaigns was communicated to U.N. agencies just before the scheduled September immunization drive was set to begin. The reasons behind the suspension remain unclear, as no official statement has been released by the Taliban-controlled government.
