ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme on Thursday launched the fifth and final nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year to immunize and protect over 45 million children from paralytic polio.
Federal Minister for National Health Services and Regulations Syed Mustafa Kamal, while launching the drive here at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said that more than 400,000 polio vaccinators will go house-to-house to administer two drops of the life-saving polio vaccine to children under the age of five.
Since the launch of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative in 1994, systematic house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns have reduced the number of polio cases by 99.6 percent, from an estimated 20,000 annual cases to 74 in 2024, and 30 so far this year.
He gave polio drops to children, including the son of NEOC Coordinator Muhammad Anwar, and reiterated the government’s unwavering commitment to protecting every child in Pakistan and worldwide from the global and regional threat of polio. The week-long national campaign will be held from 15 to 21 December.
“Polio has affected 30 children this year, more than half of them in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, which shows the risk to children when they cannot be reached with the vaccine consistently. These are not just numbers. Every case means the future of one child being disrupted; a family and an entire community affected, and the scourge of polio firmly placed in our midst,” said Minister Mustafa Kamal.
Underscoring the importance of the final campaign of 2025, Minister Kamal said that thanks to continuous vaccination efforts like these, the number of polio cases today was not in thousands but only double digits. He said that despite progress, poliovirus is still consistently being detected in sewage samples, presenting a continued risk to children across the country.
He issued a call to action to ensure no child is left unvaccinated. “I urge you all – parents, caregivers, religious leaders, community elders, public representatives, and the media – to play your role,” he said. “When a polio vaccinator knocks at your door, please welcome them in and ensure that every child under five in your house receives the vaccine. He urged the masses to become vaccination advocates in their communities and lead by the example of vaccinating their children.
“The polio vaccine is safe and it protects children from lifelong disability. We are ourselves vaccinating our children with it as you saw today. Together, we can make this campaign a success and ensure a polio-free future for our children.” The inauguration ceremony was also attended by representatives of the Polio Eradication Initiative partner organizations – including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF – along with members of the National Polio Programme core team.
The December campaign aims to vaccinate 23.3 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.6 million in Balochistan, 0.74 million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 0.28 million in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 0.46 million in Islamabad.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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