Major anti-polio campaign set for Pakistan-Afghan border: WHO (AFP)

GENEVA (AFP) - A major anti-polio vaccination campaign targeting some 16 million children living on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan will be launched next week, the World Health Organisation said.

The one-week campaign carried out by health authorities on both sides of the frontier, to begin Sunday, is aimed at 14 million Pakistani and two million Afghan children, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib announced Tuesday.

"The virus is still circulating in this corridor, so it's important to target the children who live on the border between the two countries," Chaib told journalists.

There have been five cases of the crippling and potentially lethal disease in Afghanistan so far this year and another two in Pakistan, according to the UN health agency.

About 15,000 health workers will be mobilised for the anti-polio drive, which will cover 11 provinces in Pakistan alone, Chaib said.

The WHO and UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF) will provide back-up.

Polio is still endemic in Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan with 1,900 cases reported last year, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheaded by the WHO.

Bangladesh recently launched a similar immunisation drive following an imported polio case there in January for the first time since 2000.

Health authorities have been battling to stifle the recent spread of polio with travellers from endemic areas to new countries, especially in Africa and south Asia.

Cases have been reported in a total of 15 countries over the past year, according to WHO data.