Measles is spreading very fast in this region so I came as soon as I heard about the project on the radio

Afghan mother

Health officials say they hope to prevent about 35,000 children dying from the disease each year.

Under the former Taleban regime, some outbreaks of measles could not be prevented because health workers were denied access.

"We had restrictions before - we couldn't go to certain areas because of the frontlines," said Baba Danbappa, from the UN's children agency Unicef in Afghanistan.

"With only 40% coverage, we couldn't prevent outbreaks and were not reaching the number of children we should have," he said.

Deadly disease

Measles and rubella [German measles] are among the world's commonest childhood illnesses and have been particularly prevalent in poverty-stricken Afghanistan.

Poverty and lack of health care has made the fight against measles difficult

The first stage of the vaccination programme will cover the capital, Kabul, before being expanded to cover the rest of the country.

Thousands of mothers queued up with their children at about 200 immunisation centres in Kabul on Tuesday - unthinkable during the rule of the Taleban.

"The problem before was that the syringes we used became infected very easily," said Latifa, who was carrying out vaccinations.

"Now we have all the equipment and vaccine we need."

The campaign, which is costing $8.2m, is being advertised on Afghan television and radio - also only possible since the fall of the Taleban in December.