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20/08/21

Taliban ban on jabs may trigger COVID-19 spike

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Medical experts fear a COVID-19 spike in Afghanistan given the Taliban's hostility to vaccinations. Copyright: Image bytorstensimonfromPixabay。This image has been cropped.

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  • Taliban known for hostility to the concept of vaccination
  • WHO and medical experts fear a COVID-19 spike in Afghanistan
  • Experts suggest negotiating with the Taliban on vaccinations

By:Ranjit Devraj

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[NEW DELHI] Given the Taliban’s hostility to vaccinations, WHO and medical experts fear a rapid and uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in Afghanistan will await the formation of a new government led by the ‘Islamic Scholars’.

TheWHOrecorded152,411 confirmed cases ofCOVID-191月3日至8月19日之间，阿富汗发生了7,047人死亡。8月15日，塔利班接管了阿富汗首都喀布尔，这表示总统阿什拉夫·加尼（Ashraf Ghani）政府的崩溃。

“随着阿富汗的局势继续迅速恶化，他非常关心该国的安全和人道主义需求，包括有风险disease爆发和Covid-19传播的爆发和上升。” 8月17日说update。

“Disruptions at [the] airport are delaying urgently needed essentialhealthsupplies. Crowding at health facilities and IDP (internally displaced people) camps, due to risingconflictin the country will limit implementation of infection prevention protocols, increasing the risk of COVID-19 transmission and outbreaks of other diseases,” WHO said in the update.

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据世卫组织称，到8月14日，该国已有4000万人的疫苗剂量总计1,872,268次。At least 70 per cent of the population needs to be vaccinated to effectively curb the COVID-19 virus, according to epidemiologists.

在人们逃离安全和庇护所的地区，包括喀布尔和其他大城市，现场报告表明，腹泻病例越来越多，malnutrition谁说，高血压，共同19岁的症状和生殖健康并发症。

“If the vaccination process is stopped, COVID-19 will be difficult to control in Afghanistan,” says Musa Joya, a lecturer in medical physics at theKabul University of Medical Sciencesbut currently pursuing a doctorate at theTehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

“If the vaccination process is stopped, COVID-19 will be difficult to control in Afghanistan”

Musa Joya, Kabul University of Medical Sciences

“The people do not trust themedical系统,避免去医院,和计数ry’s medical system is not able to provide oxygen and other medications which need to be imported,” Joya says. “Besides, most Afghans do not believe in coronavirus mortality prevention by vaccination. They expose themselves to the virus and leave the rest to providence.

乔亚说：“这两个没有疫苗接种和没有自我保护的因素肯定会导致灾难。”

卡尔·拉特金，卫生，行为和社会部副主席Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, US, says he is pessimistic about Afghanistan’s medical ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, given the need for medical expertise, money and supply chains.

“COVID-19 can spread quickly and add more pain and misery to a highly volatile and distressing situation,” says Latkin. “The current chaos will likely lead to the most vulnerable having few resources to prevent and treat COVID-19.”

“然而,人们sta意外后果之一ying home due to fear of the Taliban might be great social distancing and hence reducing the spread of COVID-19,” Latkin adds.

CABI & COVID

Amesh Adalja，高级学者Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says it is certain that the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan will directly impact the ability to get COVID-19 vaccines into the population.

“There have been concerns in the past regarding the fact that the Taliban has opposed polio vaccination and indeed Afghanistan is one area where wild polio virus still circulates,” Adalja says.

Taliban-imposed bans on vaccination have beenblamedby the National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP) for the failure to eradicate polio in Afghanistan. The country remains among the最后的避难所野生脊髓灰质炎病毒。在2020年，56 casesof the disease caused by the wild poliovirus were reported in Afghanistan.

婴儿接种疫苗。

阿富汗的婴儿接种疫苗。Image credit:EC/ECHO/Pierre Prakash（（CC BY-ND 2.0).

塔利班在2020年持有的所有区域实施了疫苗接种禁令，而南部地区的关键地区已被剥夺了近三年的免疫接种，影响了约100万儿童，并导致人口免疫力显着下降，并增加了风险further intensification and geographical spread of the wild poliovirus, the NEAP document said.

According to the document, more than 3 million children are currently inaccessible with the risk worsened by the COVID-19 disruptions in health delivery and there was “immense need to intensify neutral negotiations” with the Taliban.

Latkin recommends Involving the Taliban in the vaccine distribution process as “that may lead them to see the benefits and that vaccines are not a threat.”

“Ideally, community health workers should be from the community and known by the community,” says Latkin. “However, it remains to be seen if the Taliban will trust the complex and interdependent structure necessary to disseminate vaccines.

在1996年至2001年的最后一次执政期间，塔利班只有巴基斯坦，沙特阿拉伯和阿联酋的认可。

这件作品由Scidev.net的亚太桌子制作。

This article has been edited due to political sensitivities.

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