We honour the lives and work of 3 individuals who were killed while preparing for an upcoming polio eradication campaign in Afghanistan.

On September 14 2008, a World Health Organization (WHO) convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber at the gate of Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Their mission was for the preparation of the sub-National Immunisation Days (sNIDs) to be held in conjunction with the UN Peace Day celebration between September 21-23 2008. There were 7 passengers in the convoy. 2 colleagues from WHO, Dr. Shams Kakar, Regional Polio Officer, and Dr. Mamoon, Campaign Coordinator, along with the driver of one of the vehicles lost their lives in this incident. Our thoughts are with their families, friends, and colleagues. The rest of the passengers in the convoy remained safe.

We have been informed that the country and Kandahar teams have decided to continue the campaign, despite this tragic loss.

Addressing Obstacles of Eradication

The Religious Battle over Polio Vaccinations in Tribal Pakistan
...according to this April 2008 report, some religious scholars in tribal areas of Pakistan are preaching that vaccinations, particularly polio vaccinations, are against the will of God...

Completing Polio Eradication in Bihar: Draft Strategic Plan 2008
...provides a situation analysis for the two polio serotypes currently circulating in Bihar (types 1 and 3), establishes objectives for the year 2008, and provides strategies for improving the quality of operations. It aims to supplement the technical recommendations made by the Indian Expert Advisory Group on Polio Eradication (IEAG) regarding the strategic use of polio vaccines...

Follow-up Consultation on the Task Force on Immunization (TFI) Recommendation for Communication for the Expanded Programme on Immunization-Polio
...facilitators of this April 2008 Dakar, Senegal meeting outlined a potential framework for standardised polio and routine immunisation communication indicators that could be collected from the countries in the region and adapted to help guide country programmes...