1. Training In the classroom of a dilapidated school in Kano in the north, mothers sit at the desks, being trained in how to be a vaccinator.

2. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative –– a joint project of the WHO, UNICEF, the U.S.–based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Rotary International –– last month cited "major operational challenges" in Angola, noting inadequate supervision and vaccinator training had "severely marred" previous campaigns.

3. For polio vaccinators working on the frontlines of an emerging Taliban resurgence and earning just US $50 per month, the 15 or 20km trip from the provincial capital to outlying towns and villages is too much of a risk to take. «While I was traveling to Tarinkot, the Taliban stopped my bus and forced me outside,» said Hamdullah, a government polio vaccinator who was beaten and harassed on 16 February while on duty. «They slapped my face.

4. It is a chance for families that rarely go to the clinic to have the vaccinator come to their mosque and provide free vaccination to protect the whole neighborhood against measles. «We want all parents to take part in this valuable vaccination campaign,» notes Doctor Riyad Musa, of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Kabul. «We are here to serve the families of our nation‘s capital, to ensure the future health of our children, and therefore the future of Afghanistan.» Neonatal tetanus can have fatal consequences, and can be contracted if the birth process or the baby‘s cord is contaminated with dirt.