The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Afghanistan is at risk for a polio outbreak. This comes after the Taliban had "temporarily suspended" polio vaccinations in the country. There have been 18 new confirmed cases of polio so far this year, much higher than the 6 cases reported in 2023, health officials said.

The Taliban had suspended the vaccinations over women administering them and alleged security concerns, health officials told the Guardian, and said that the number of polio infections is believed to be higher but many cases go undetected.

Polio is a highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and death if left untreated. The disease is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only two countries that have not yet successfully eradicated it.

The Taliban government intends to redirect vaccination efforts to local mosques, anticipating that families will send their children to receive vaccinations.

"This is very bad news for the polio program," the health official who wished to remain anonymous told the publication. "For the eradication to be successful, we need to cover more than 95 percent of the children with two doses of the vaccine. But without the door-to-door campaigns, we will not be able to reach that target. It puts the whole country at risk, even the region."

"The reason behind the postponing of the polio campaign is the issues with the modality of implementation," she continued. "The leadership of the current government has ordered us not to conduct door-to-door campaigns."

According to reports, US intelligence agencies used fraudulent vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan to verify and identify terrorist hideouts, including those of Osama bin Laden. This resulted in widespread distrust of the campaigns throughout the region, as evidenced by numerous assaults on polio workers over the past decade.