Taliban’s Restrictions on Women Health Workers Risk a Polio Resurgence in Afghanistan

The Taliban government imposed more extensive restrictions on women, including those working to vaccinate children. Still, Afghanistan is now in dire straits as the country faces an alarming risk of polio resurgence. Decades of global health work had been on the precipice of eradicating polio in Nigeria by ensuring that children were receiving the vaccine they needed to avoid a disabling disease that could lead to paralysis and death. Yet, the political and social developments of recent months since the Taliban overtook control have made many Afghan children — whose lives and safety are endangered—fear that these gains might all be squandered.

Role of Women Health Workers

Ms Behman is one of the thousands of female health workers who have been working against polio elimination in Afghanistan for years. Households have traditionally been inaccessible to male health workers, as their presence, especially in rural areas, is often a cultural and religious taboo. While mothers and children are critical to vaccination, women can also help provide the last mile of vaccine delivery as community health workers and educate families on the value of immunization.

The health sector has been hit hardest, with few trained staff left to run facilities and provide vital care because of the near ban on any woman working under Taliban rule that exists today. Blanket bans are being slapped on female vaccinators, the unseen force that once played a pivotal role in immunizing children in door-to-door campaigns. Of particular concern is that polio targets children under the age of five, and it is women who have historically been socially permitted to interact with such children in more conservative households.

Increase in Polio Cases: A Worldwide Concern

Afghanistan is one of just two countries in the entire world with endemic polio, alongside neighboring Pakistan. In recent years, substantial progress has been accomplished in eliminating people still carrying the polio virus. But as circumstances for female healthcare workers deteriorated, polio cases increased once more. The situation is so alarming that the World Health Organization (WHO) and, more recently, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have warned the inability to deliver vaccines in conflict zones where children are particularly vulnerable may spark a global resurgence.

The virus may be able to spread more quickly in areas with lower vaccination rates, especially rural regions. A sharp reminder that polio is not eradicated from the world yet; children are at risk of this terrible fate in Afghanistan, and if left unchecked, polio could easily spill over to other regions. Polio could take years to finally return. The WHO has warned that any disease reversal could impede global eradication efforts.

The Taliban's Ban on Women

The Taliban have faced global condemnation over their restrictions on the role of women in society, especially in education and employment. Women have also been pushed to the margins, barred from working in several fields, and healthcare is one where restrictions have only expanded under their rule. The absence of feminine health workers is critical for public health initiatives because women in this country need to communicate with other women and cultural norms regularly concerning the care they receive.

Report From – Taliban Ministry of Public Health restrictions on women in vaccinating programs The dire insurgent threat to the health of Afghan women is alarming international organizations and humanitarian groups that rely heavily on local female workers in several key areas, notably public health.

Effects on Children and Families

The stakes of women being sidelined to vaccinate are high- nowhere more so than for Afghan children. In Afghanistan, particularly in conservative rural heartlands, male health workers are not welcomed into the homes of many families. By not employing women as vaccinators, entire groups of people needing immunization could miss out.

The delay in vaccinating vulnerable children could lead to an uncontrolled outbreak of polio, particularly among those living in isolated areas with less developed health systems. Anyway, kids who get polio are rendered physically disabled at all times, and in excessive circumstances, they might even lose their lives to it. Fathers and mothers already coping with poverty, loss of home, and hunger could face the additional burden of having to pay for medical treatment while dealing with poorly wee toddlers unable to move their limbs.

International Outrage and Demands for Change

Governments and intergovernmental organizations worldwide have increasingly sounded the alarm about the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan — specifically, a looming health catastrophe if polio vaccines are not rapidly restarted. The WHO and other health organizations joined the UNICEF in urging that for Afghan children, the hardships they face are more important than political or ideological reasons.

Other countries and international bodies are examining other means to get vaccines to Afghanistan's children. Unfortunately, this has been one of the problems in addressing these issues, with the Taliban dominating its restrictions. Humanitarian organizations have called for diplomatic action to protect crucial health services, such as vaccination clinics against polio.

This comes as humanitarian organizations struggle to deliver aid to Afghanistan amid financial sanctions and a pullout of foreign aid post-Taliban takeover. Funding for immunization campaigns has also become more uncertain, making efforts to prevent a polio outbreak in the area harder.

Potential for Spillover of Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus into the Environment

If it does not, Afghanistan may succumb to its second wave of a large-scale polio outbreak, and its dreams of eradicating the disease will be set back that much further. Even a single child who is not vaccinated can let the virus run loose quickly, especially in countries with limited healthcare, as recently warned by the WHO.

Polio is easily transmitted, and in a country characterized by high levels of violence like Afghanistan, where there are areas with poor sanitation and no access to clean water, the virus can spread rapidly. If coverage of polio vaccination is not more widespread, the country may face another upsurge in polio cases, endangering the lives and futures of thousands of children.

Conclusion

This has returned to bite the Taliban in Afghanistan: The Latter attempts by Taliban fighters to stop women from joining a polio vaccination campaign might similarly endanger its successes in other parts of the world. But, with the Taliban exhibiting precedence of restricting women, a mass epidemic of polio is right around the corner. The Taliban needs to be pressured by the international community so that female health workers can start vaccinating again, while global health organizations need to find new processes to ensure Afghan children do not miss their required immunizations, which keep them healthy and safe.

Afghanistan's children and the global polio eradication effort cannot afford for it to fail.