SIGAR

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
with relevant international organization stakeholders to understand existing
nutritional improvement efforts, avoid duplication, and identify gaps that
IHSAN could fill. 771
Polio
Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of only three countries where polio is still
endemic. 772 Both countries, which share a 1,500-mile border, suffer from the
Taliban’s opposition to vaccination campaigns. 773 USAID said the Taliban,
and those living in Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan and Pakistan, have
spread misinformation that polio-immunization campaigns are American
conspiracies, that their volunteer workers are spies, and that the polio vaccine
is an anti-fertility drug or that it has side effects. 774
Afghanistan reported 12 new polio cases in 2016, as of December 28,
down from 17 cases at this point last year. The most recent case was
on October 12 in Paktika Province, close to the Pakistan border. Half of
Afghanistan’s polio cases in 2016 came from Paktika. 775 The United Nations
estimates that 600,000 children in Afghanistan—up from 320,000 reported
last quarter—have not been vaccinated, mostly due to fighting and insurgents’
blocking access to children. Almost half the children are from Farah
Province and southern Afghanistan. 776 USAID obligated more than $25.7 million
for polio eradication in Afghanistan since FY 2003. 777
REPORT TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS I JANUARY 30, 2017
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