Pakistan has begun a nationwide polio vaccination drive that will reach 24 million children under five across 97 districts, Xinhua reports. The campaign, launched Monday, will continue until November 8 and is being carried out by more than 200,000 frontline workers who will perform door‑to‑door inoculations.
According to Xinhua, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive polio drops and cooperate with vaccination teams, saying repeated doses strengthen children’s immunity against the disease.
The NEOC clarified that the campaign covers 97 selected districts, the same areas that have historically reported cases of polio and where vaccination rates have lagged.
Pakistan’s effort is running concurrently with a similar initiative in Afghanistan, Xinhua notes, with both countries hoping to interrupt transmission of the virus across their shared border.
In the campaign’s first week, NEOC officials said they had already begun outreach in rural and urban areas, emphasising the need for community participation to reach every child before the deadline.
The campaign’s timing aligns with WHO’s goal of global polio eradication, with the World Health Organization calling for continued vigilance in high‑risk regions. NEOC officials are also preparing additional cold‑chain capacity to maintain vaccine efficacy during the door‑to‑door rollout.
Polio vaccination remains a public health priority in Pakistan, where vaccine clashes and access challenges have slowed progress. The NEOC’s large‑scale deployment marks a decisive step toward meeting the 2030 eradication target.