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Afghanistan launched a 5-day campaign on Monday to vaccinate 8.8 million children against polio, in a effort to eradicate the virus in the country by the end of the decade.  The March 27-31 campaign is the first of the National Immunization Days (NIDs) for polio eradication in 2017 by the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan. More than 7.9 million aged 6 months to 5 years will be given vitamin A tablets. The campaign will cover all provinces, except Bamyam, Daikonda and Ghor provinces due to cold weather.

Poliomyelitis or olio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle such as contaminated water or food and multiplies in the intestine.  Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs).  Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

‎Most countries of the world are now free from polio as a result of immunization. Afghanistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio still exists. Fortunately polio can be eliminated completely like smallpox.  Afghanistan has made significant progress in the effort to stop polio and is accelerating efforts to ensure polio is finished for good.

The March 27-31 national polio vaccination campaign will be run by 65,000 polio workers who will go from house to house in their communities to vaccinate children. On Friday, the final day, polio teams will revisit households where children were missed the first time the vaccinators visited to ensure that all children are vaccinated and protected.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world where polio is still circulating. Two polio cases have been reported in 2017, one from Helmand and one from Kandahar. In 2016, 13 polio cases were reported, down from 20 in 2015. Most of Afghanistan remains polio-free, but wild poliovirus continues to circulate in localized geographical areas in the eastern, southern and south-eastern parts of the country.

The Afghan government is assuring that polio vaccine is safe and it does not have any side effects even for sleeping, sick and newborn children. Polio vaccines have been endorsed by scholars including national and global Ulema.  The Minister of Public Health,  Ferozuddin Feroz has appealed to the country’s warring parties not to hinder the work of health professionals.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following the resignation of a prominent member and abuse survivor, a pontifical commission charged with addressing issues related to clergy sex abuse vowed to continue to seek input from victims and survivors.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said the resignation of Marie Collins was a "central topic" of its March 24-26 plenary assembly, and it "expressed strong support for her continuing work" to promote healing for abuse victims and ensuring best practices for prevention.

"Commission members have unanimously agreed to find new ways to ensure its work is shaped and informed with and by victims/survivors. Several ideas that have been successfully implemented elsewhere are being carefully considered for recommendation to the Holy Father," the commission said in a March 26 statement published by the Vatican.

Among the main concerns addressed by the commission was outreach out to victims, an issue first raised by Collins shortly after she resigned from her position.

In an editorial published online March 1 by National Catholic Reporter, Collins said an unnamed dicastery not only refused to respond to letters from victims, it also refused to cooperate on the commission's safeguarding guidelines.

In its statement, the commission emphasized Pope Francis' letter to the presidents of the bishops' conferences and superiors of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, in which he called for their close and complete cooperation with the Commission for the Protection of Minors.

"The work I have entrusted to them includes providing assistance to you and your conferences through an exchange of best practices and through programs of education, training and developing adequate responses to sexual abuse," the pope wrote Feb. 2, 2015.

Commission members spoke again of their willingness to work together with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith communicating a "guidelines template" to episcopal conferences and religious congregations, both directly and through the commission website, the statement said.

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BERLIN (AP) -- Thieves broke into the German capital's Bode Museum before dawn Monday and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions of dollars, police said....

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As a billionaire developer, Donald Trump built casinos, luxe condo towers and lush golf courses. Now, as president, Trump aims to develop perhaps his most ambitious and surely his most contentious project yet: A wall along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border....

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LONDON (AP) -- The family of an American slain in last week's attack in London expressed gratitude Monday for the kindness of strangers as they insisted some good would come from the tragedy....

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio says the wildly popular statue of a young girl staring down Wall Street's famous "Charging Bull" will be allowed to remain through February 2018....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes' spokesman says the congressman met on the White House grounds with the source of the claim that communications involving President Donald Trump's associates were caught up in "incidental" surveillance....

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks around the world dipped Monday on worries that the Trump White House may not be able to help businesses as much as once thought. Many of the trends that have been in place since Election Day moved in reverse: The dollar's value sank against other currencies, as did bank stocks, while prices rose for Treasury bonds....

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MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who organized a wave of nationwide protests against government corruption that rattled authorities, was jailed for 15 days on Monday by a Moscow court for resisting police orders....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is hoping to drive his priorities forward following the crumbling of the Republican health care bill but GOP finger-pointing is rampant, underscoring how tough it will be to produce the unity the party will need....

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