Afghanistan Reports First Polio Case Of 2023

Kabul [Afghanistan]: Afghanistan has reported the first case of poliovirus of 2023. The country’s health authorities detected it in the Nangarhar province, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.

The country’s Ministry of Health under the caretaker Taliban regime said the first incidence of polio in Afghanistan since 2023 has been detected. According to reports, a four-year-old child has been identified as having polio sickness in the region, and up to two cases of wild poliovirus have been found worldwide.

A total of 56 cases of polio were reported in Afghanistan in 2020, while four cases were reported in 2021. Two instances of polio were reported last year. The number of polio cases in the country has hence been dropping.

Polio is a severely contagious and disabling disease typically spread through contaminated water or food. The infection can induce complete paralysis within hours after invading the nervous system.

As per reports, the contagious virus thrived in the borderland between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where militants attacked anti-polio teams, as per Khaama Press.
Poverty and high rates of unemployment in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule have been pushing the natives to flee the country and move abroad in order to find jobs for survival, Tolo News reported.

The country’s citizens said that they are forced to migrate to find jobs abroad to feed their families, illegally. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the humanitarian crisis in the country has increased manifold. People are forced to live miserably under strict restrictions under the Taliban.

Lamenting over the poor situation of the country and its economic slump, a resident of Herat, Abdul Khaliq said, ‘I have been deported 16 times since 1391 (solar year) up to now… we are vulnerable and struggling with problems and we need to go out.’