The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in collaboration with the National Expanded Programme on Immunization (NEPI) in Afghanistan, have successfully concluded the second phase of a nationwide measles vaccination campaign.

The 10-day second phase, which started on 29 October, reached 8 355 446 children aged 6 months to 10 years with one dose of the measles vaccine across 17 hot-weather provinces, achieving 91.7% coverage of the more than 9 million children targeted. In addition, 3 953 961 children aged 0 to 10 years received one dose of bivalent oral polio vaccine across 5 provinces in the south and one province in the southeast.

Building on the first phase of the nationwide measles campaign – completed in October this year after reaching 8.3 million children across 17 cold-climate provinces – Afghanistan is advancing efforts to ensure immunization of all children.

The campaign was launched in response to continued measles outbreaks and low routine immunization coverage. The Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2022–2023 found that only 51% of children had received their first measles dose, and just 37% their second dose. The successful rollout of the campaign has helped close these critical immunity gaps, laying the foundations for identifying missed children and strengthening routine vaccination as the country works towards measles control.