Acting Minister of Public Health, Noor Jalal Jalali, says the issue of health should not be politicized given that Afghanistan has a vulnerable health-care sector and needs international aid.

Addressing a ceremony to mark the opening of a new children’s immunization center, Jalali said the death rate of children in Afghanistan is still high and international organizations should help health officials reduce this rate.

“I mostly say that health and politics should be separated. International partners who claim the rights of mothers and children [should be ensured] should cooperate a lot in the field of health,” said Jalali.

He added that 17 health centers will be built in districts across the country this solar year.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister for Health Services Abdul Wali Haqqani also spoke at the event and said about two million children have not yet been vaccinated.

According to him, 900,000 children will receive vaccines over the next 18 months.

A representative of UNICEF also stressed the need for the complete eradication of polio in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan is one of the countries where polio cases still exist. Therefore, this program is an opportunity to reach out to children who have missed vaccination [campaigns], and we strive to protect these children and expand this program to the highest level in the future,” said the UNICEF representative.

According to official data, between four and five million children benefit from the polio program every year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently confirmed 18 new cases of polio infection in the country so far this year, a significant increase from the six cases reported in 2023.

Local healthcare workers say these numbers could be higher as many cases will not yet have been detected.

Hekmatullah Shamim, the spokesman of the governor of Parwan, says that more than 500 people in the province have fallen ill with an  unknown infectious disease.

According to Shamim, in the last four days, more than 500 residents of Dara Kashfan area in Shinwar district of Parwan have been infected with the disease and the number is rising.

According to local officials, two people have died due to this disease and 50 others are in a critical condition.

Shamim added that health teams have reached the area worst affected and blood samples of infected people have been taken. 

The governor's spokesman in Parwan quoted the public health directorate as saying symptoms of the disease are "physical disability, severe muscle pain, severe diarrhoea and severe fever".

No further details were provided. 

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization, the organizations said in a joint statement on Saturday.

Depending on the production capacity of manufacturers, agreements for up to 12 million doses through 2025 can be made, according to the statement.

Under the tender, UNICEF will set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the statement said.

This will enable UNICEF to purchase and ship vaccines without delay, once financing, demand, readiness and regulatory requirements are confirmed, Reuters reported.

The collaboration - which would also include working with the Vaccine Alliance and the Pan American Health Organization as well as with Gavi, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO - would facilitate donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.

The statement added that WHO is reviewing information submitted by manufacturers on Aug. 23, and expects to complete a review for an emergency use listing by mid-September.

The agency is reviewing applications for emergency licences for two vaccines made by Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO), opens new tab and Japan's KM Biologics, read the report.

Earlier in August, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighbouring countries.

More than 18,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in Congo so far this year with 629 deaths, while over 150 cases have been confirmed in Burundi, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Sweden and Thailand have confirmed cases of the clade Ib type of the virus, outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries.