The Afghan public health ministry, which is governed by the Taliban, declared the commencement of a four-day statewide polio vaccination campaign for children under the age of five on Sunday.

Before assuming control of Afghanistan, the Taliban had prohibited U.N.-organized vaccination teams from conducting door-to-door campaigns in areas under their control for the previous three years. The team members were suspected of being spies for the previous regime or the West, according to the group.

3.3 million youngsters have not been vaccinated in the last three years as a result of the ban and ongoing legal battles.

"Without any doubt polio is a disease that without treatment will either kill our children or cause them with permanent disability, so in this case the only way is to implement the vaccination," said Dr. Qalandar Ebad, the Taliban's acting public health minister.

Polio is still common in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the only nations in the world where the disease can cause partial paralysis in children. Since 2010, the country has held regular immunization programs in which personnel go door to door and administer the vaccine to children. Women make up the majority of the workforce because they have easier access to mothers and children.

The four-day campaign will begin on Monday and will take place across the country, according to Ebad. The anticipated target demographic includes Afghanistan's 10 million children under the age of five, including the over 3.3 million who have been unreachable since 2018.

"Vaccination of (children) less than five years of age in the country during the national immunization days is a gigantic task. It is not possible for the ministry of public health alone to complete this task successfully, so we need the support of all lined departments," said Nek Wali Shah Momin, a health ministry official in the polio eradication department.

The Taliban's claimed support for the campaign looked to be intended to demonstrate to the international community that they are willing to work with international organizations. The long-running militant insurgency group has been attempting to gain international legitimacy for its new administration and reopen the door to international help in order to save the country's deteriorating economy.

In a joint statement issued last month, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) praised the Taliban leadership's decision to support the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccines across the country.