ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will aim to vaccinate 19 million children against poliovirus in targeted districts across the nation from May 18, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement on Tuesday, urging parents to get their children inoculated against the disease.
The development takes place almost two weeks after Pakistan reported two new polio cases this month. Health authorities reported both cases from Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on May 1.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that can cause irreversible paralysis and, in some cases, death, but can be prevented through repeated doses of oral vaccines. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries worldwide where the disease is still endemic.
“A special anti-polio campaign will begin across 79 selected districts nationwide from May 18,” the NEOC said. “The anti-polio campaign in the 79 selected districts will continue until May 24 during which 19 million children will be administered polio prevention drops.”
The NEOC said more than 160,000 polio workers will partake in the door-to-door vaccination campaign, which will be conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The drive will take place in 10 districts of Punjab, where around 6.19 million children will receive polio drops and in 20 districts of Sindh, where 5.79 million children will be vaccinated.
In KP, health workers will conduct the campaign in 23 districts to vaccinate 4.61 million children while in Balochistan, 1.99 million children will receive polio drops in 25 targeted districts, the NEOC said.
Pakistan aims to vaccinate around 450,000 children in Islamabad during the drive, the center said.
“Welcome the polio teams and help keep your children safe from polio,” the NEOC said. “Parents are requested to ensure that all children under 5 years of age receive polio drops.”
Pakistan launched a nationwide campaign to vaccinate over 45 million children against polio last month. One police officer, who was part of a contingent assigned to protect polio workers, was killed by unidentified gunmen during the campaign.
Over the past decade, several police officers and health workers have been killed by militants waging an offensive against the Pakistani state, especially in KP.
In the past, firebrand clerics falsely claimed the vaccine contained pork or alcohol, forbidding it for consumption by Muslims. A fake vaccination campaign organized by the US Central Intelligence Agency in Pakistan in 2011 to track Osama bin Laden compounded the mistrust among locals.
So far, Pakistan has reported three polio cases this year, compared to 31 last year and an alarming 74 in 2024.
