A national anti-polio campaign targeting children under five to safeguard them against polio launches today.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the campaign, which will span 115 districts and reach 30 million children from September 9 to 15. At the opening ceremony, Shehbaz administered polio drops to children, marking the start of the drive.
Throughout this effort, 286,000 workers will visit homes nationwide to vaccinate children. Shehbaz called on parents to vaccinate their under-5 children to prevent permanent disabilities.
The campaign follows a recent poliovirus case in Islamabad—the first in 16 years—raising Pakistan’s total to 17 cases this year.
Read: Polio Resurfaces in Islamabad: First Case in 16 Years Reported
Local administrations began preliminary vaccination drives, setting the stage for this broader effort led by the health department.
The resurgence of poliovirus in Islamabad last week—an eight-year-old boy from Union Council Rural 4—underscored the urgency of these measures, confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio at the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Further, environmental samples from 64 districts across all provinces have tested positive for the wild poliovirus (WPV1), highlighting widespread viral presence.
