Press Release - Date of Release: 4 March 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, today initiated this year's polio vaccination campaign in the presidential compound by dripping a drop of vitamin A and two drops of polio vaccine into the mouth of Afghan children.

In a three-day campaign starting on 05 th of March 2006 more than 40 thousand vaccinators, health workers and volunteers will go house-to-house across the country to immunize more than 7.2 million children under the age of five.

Also, more than 6.4 children from 6-month to five years of age will receive vitamin A across the country. The health teams from the Ministry of Health will work in close partnership with the UN agencies to eradicate polio and ensure that no Afghan child slips through the net.

The President called on Afghan families to use this opportunity and vaccinate their children to ensure a polio-free Afghanistan.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan