The Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health says a new polio vaccination campaign will launch on Saturday, 30 August, in parts of eastern Afghanistan.

According to the ministry, the drive will cover the districts of Surkhrod, Behsud, Khogyani and Bati Kot in Nangarhar province, as well as the cities of Jalalabad, Mehtarlam and Asadabad.

Children will receive both oral and injectable vaccines to boost immunity and help prevent the spread of the virus, officials said.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic. The World Health Organization says reported cases have declined in recent years but the virus continues to circulate in some areas of Afghanistan.