A polio vaccination campaign targeting children under the age of five has begun in parts of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces.

According to local media, the campaign is being conducted in Kandahar city, Lashkargah, and several districts across Helmand Province.

Health authorities urged parents to ensure that all children under the age of five receive the oral polio vaccine, stressing that immunization is the most effective way to protect children from the disease, which can cause lifelong paralysis. Families were also encouraged to cooperate with vaccination teams throughout the campaign.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), six human cases of polio and 34 environmental detections of the virus have been recorded in Afghanistan so far this year.

Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus has not yet been eradicated. (ILKHA)