Polio is a serious and contagious disease of the central nervous system that primarily affects motor neurons in the spinal cord. Those most at risk are children under the age of 5. Despite the existence of a vaccine since the late 1980s to combat and halt the spread of the virus in almost all areas of the world, only two countries remain polio-endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The numbers are clear and highlight a still alarming situation that requires entrenched and rapid intervention: in Afghanistan, a territory where the population has been experiencing one of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises for years, the ineffective and fragile health care system combined with the collapse of the economic system and the consequences of the Taliban’s seizure of power on August 15, 2021, have, in fact, hindered the possibility of vaccinating boys and girls under the age of 5. According to the latest WHO – World Health Organization – estimates, there are still millions of unvaccinated children, many of whom belong to 74 % of the country’s population living in rural areas where there are no basic health facilities and vaccination services.