KABUL, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Public Health Ministry launched a polio vaccination campaign to give immunity vaccination dose to 5.4 million children under the age of five in high-risk districts, the ministry said on Monday.

"Starting Monday, polio vaccination teams will visit 5.4 million children under five years old in 179 high-risk districts of Afghanistan. The campaign will be launched from Jan. 21 to Jan. 25 in the west, central and southeast regions, and from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 in the south and the east regions," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that "Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure for polio and the polio vaccine is the only safe and effective way to protect children."

The ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering the efforts to stamp out the infectious disease in the mountainous country as more than 20 polio cases were detected in Afghanistan in 2018.