Household survey of locomotor disability caused by poliomyelitis and landmines in Afghanistan

After 19 years of civil war and the total collapse of health services, disabled people are numerous in Afghanistan. Injuries caused by landmines are a major cause of disability,1 but data on other causes of disability are lacking. We assessed locomotor disability, rehabilitation needs, and coverage of oral polio vaccine in Kandahar province, a heavily mined area in south west Afghanistan.2 A multistage random cluster sampling was performed in four districts of Kandahar province (population 428 390). A disabled person was defined as someone unable to walk normally without help or unable to move their hands or arms properly for a reason other than age. Poliomyelitis was defined as recommended by the World Health Organisation for lameness surveys.3 Coverage of oral polio vaccine was measured by standard WHO methods for children aged 12–59 months.4 Data were collected …