Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI) welcomes the announcement by the Taliban that it has ended its war on polio vaccination workers, admitting that immunisation is the only way to protect children from the disease.
As reported in the Daily Telegraph, the announcement comes just weeks after the Afghan government launched a new campaign to immunise more than eight million children between six months and five years old throughout the country.
RIBI President, John Minhinick said: “This is very good news for Rotary and all the organisations involved in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). The fact that health workers can now immunise children in Taliban areas without risk of attack, will make it easier for us to achieve our mission of ridding the world of the scourge of polio for good."
Rotary International has been leading the war against polio for over 25 years. In that time the number of endemic countries has been reduced from 125 to just three: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria where threats of conflict and a migratory population enable the disease to pass from person to person.
