India to vaccinate all Afghan returnees against polio free of charge | Latest India News

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday that the central government would vaccinate returnees from Afghanistan with a free polio vaccine as a preventive measure against the wild polio virus. The announcement comes the day an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 plane landed at Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad from the Afghan capital Kabul with 168 passengers, including more than 100 Indians and around 20 Sikhs. and Afghan Hindus. Two more flights carrying Indians from Kabul to Afghanistan landed earlier Sunday, including a special Air India flight carrying 87 Indians.

“We have decided to vaccinate Afghan returnees with free polio vaccine – OPV and fIPV, as a preventive measure against wild polio virus,” tweeted Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. ”

The Union Minister also attached a photo of the vaccination campaign, which is already underway at Delhi International Airport.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm on Saturday over the health care situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, noting that the conflict in the country has left countless people vulnerable to hunger and disease. The public health body estimates that about half of the Afghan population, which includes more than four million women and nearly 10 million children, is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. WHO has said countries must continue to provide health services to the Afghan people, lest the current drought escalate into even a dire situation.

The UK has said it will administer coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines to Afghan refugees coming to the country to flee the Taliban. The UK is also seeking to resettle around 20,000 vulnerable Afghans under a new resettlement program.