Pakistan’s week-long polio vaccination campaign will run from Nov. 2 to 8, deploying more than 200,000 frontline workers to protect children under five in 97 districts.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday launched a week-long polio vaccination campaign targeting approximately 24 million children under five in 97 districts, as health authorities intensified efforts to prevent the spread of the virus following the confirmation of the country’s eighth polio case of 2026.
The campaign, running from Nov. 2 to 8, will deploy more than 200,000 frontline workers to administer oral polio vaccine drops to children across the country. The drive is being conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic.
The latest campaign follows confirmation of a polio case involving a 13-month-old girl from Bara tehsil in Khyber district. The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication confirmed the case on Nov. 1.
It is the second polio case reported from Khyber district this year and the sixth from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The remaining two cases have been reported in Sindh, bringing Pakistan’s total to eight in 2026.
The NEOC has urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive oral polio vaccine drops during the ongoing campaign and subsequent vaccination rounds.
Sindh targets 6.8 million children
In Sindh, health authorities aim to vaccinate 6.8 million children across 20 districts through door-to-door vaccination teams and fixed vaccination centres.
Sindh Health Secretary Tahir Hussain Sangi inaugurated the campaign in Karachi on Saturday and called on parents to cooperate with vaccination teams to ensure that no child was missed.
He said six environmental samples had tested positive for poliovirus this month, compared with one in the previous month.
Environmental surveillance involves collecting sewage samples to detect the circulation of poliovirus in communities, including areas where no polio-related paralysis case has been reported.
Punjab and Balochistan launch vaccination drives
Punjab is targeting approximately 9.3 million children in 13 selected districts, including Rawalpindi.
Meanwhile, Balochistan has launched its campaign across 31 districts, aiming to vaccinate more than 2.2 million children. The province has established 8,888 vaccination teams and has not reported a polio case since November 2024.
KP focuses on high-risk districts
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has recorded the highest number of polio cases in the country this year, aims to vaccinate more than 4.8 million children across 27 districts.
Health authorities have appealed to parents and caregivers to cooperate with frontline workers and ensure that vaccination teams can reach every eligible child.
Polio is a highly infectious disease with no cure, but it can be prevented through vaccination. Health officials stress that repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine, alongside routine immunisation, are essential to provide children with protection.
Children must receive vaccine drops during every campaign round, even if they have been vaccinated previously, as repeated doses strengthen their immunity and help prevent the transmission of the virus.
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