KANDAHAR, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Public Health Ministry has resumed polio vaccination campaign to give immunity vaccination dose to 80,000 children under the age of five in Dand and Panjwayi districts of southern Kandahar province, months after the drive was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Polio is a highly infectious, crippling and sometimes fatal disease that can be avoided with a vaccine. Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable.

Child vaccination drives, including polio campaigns, were halted in March in Afghanistan to avoid the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), reported polio cases rose to 34 in Afghanistan.

[caption id="attachment_51312" align="alignnone" width="900"] A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child during a vaccination campaign in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2020. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_51313" align="alignnone" width="900"] A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child during a vaccination campaign in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2020. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_51314" align="alignnone" width="900"] A health worker marks a house after giving polio vaccine to children living here during a vaccination campaign in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2020. (Photo by Sanaullah Seiam/Xinhua) ■[/caption]