New nationwide polio campaign begins in Afghanistan

New spring phase of polio campaign to eradicate the disease from war-torn Afghanistan was launched on Sunday across the country.

Some 7.7 million children under five years old would be vaccinated across the country with the support of over 50,000 health workers and volunteers.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai in his message on the occasion asked all citizens including the government functionaries to help make success of the campaign, a statement issued by Presidential Palace said.

Several cases of polio had been reported in 2008 in the troubled southern Afghanistan where Taliban militants are active and often carried out assaults on staffs who inoculated polio vaccine.

Afghanistan, according to health officials, would become polio-free by 2010.