AFGHANISTAN BEGINS POLIO VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

More than 7 million Afghan children under 5 will be vaccinated against the poliovirus this week during a joint campaign launched by Afghanistan's health ministry and the United Nations Children's Fund.

Afghanistan, one of only four countries in the world where polio is endemic, has seen the number of cases surge this year. There have been 28 confirmed polio cases in 2006, compared with only four in the same period last year, according to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health.

During the vaccination drive, which is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), some 45,000 health workers and volunteers will go house-to-house to administer the oral vaccine across the country. Along with the vaccine, children will also get vitamin A supplements.

According to the WHO, polio can strike at any age but mainly affects children under 5. It enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Besides Afghanistan, polio is endemic in Nigeria, India and Pakistan.