ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities have vaccinated over 19.3 million children against poliovirus since Sept. 1, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement on Tuesday, as the nine-day anti-polio nationwide drive concludes today.
Islamabad launched the nationwide campaign against the disease on Sept. 1, as it grapples with poliovirus, which remains endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Polio is an incurable, highly infectious virus that can cause lifelong paralysis and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination and routine immunization.
Pakistan has enhanced its efforts to vaccinate millions of children ever since it reported an alarming 74 polio infections in 2024. This was a sharp rise in infections from six cases in 2023 and just one in 2021, highlighting the challenge of eradication.
“Today marks the final day of the special anti-polio campaign,” the NEOC said in a statement. “By the end of yesterday, more than 19.3 million children had been administered polio drops.”
Giving a breakdown of the vaccinations, the NEOC said over 4 million children were given polio drops in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province while in Sindh, nearly 8.431 million children received the vaccine since Sept. 1.
In Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, 3.993 million children were vaccinated and in its southwestern Balochistan province, 2.182 million children received the vaccine.
In the federal capital Islamabad, the vaccination of approximately 464,000 children has been completed while in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, 112,000 children were inoculated. In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, 164,000 children have been vaccinated against poliovirus, the NEOC said.
The NEOC urged parents to play their role in stemming the spread of poliovirus, calling on them to welcome polio volunteers.
“Ensure that every child under five years of age receives polio drops during every campaign,” it added.
Pakistan has made major gains since the 1990s, when annual cases exceeded 20,000, reducing the toll to eight by 2018. But vaccine hesitancy, fueled by misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners, continues to hamper progress.
Health teams have also faced frequent militant attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan, where vaccinators and security personnel have been killed while administering drops in remote communities.
Officials say such violence, coupled with natural disasters such as the current flooding, are complicating nationwide eradication efforts.
