Anti-polio drive 'misses' targets

ISLAMABAD: The nationwide anti-polio drive, held in October, ‘failed’ to achieve set targets, citing sources, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The campaign ran nationwide from October 13 to 19, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children, the sources said. However, 1,096,525 children missed out on the vaccine, with 721,296 children unavailable for vaccination. Additionally, there were 53,621 reported cases of vaccine refusal during the campaign.

They further said, overall, the campaign achieved 98% of its intended target. During the campaign, 15 districts recorded polio coverage below 95%, 31 districts achieved coverage between 95% and 97%, and 113 districts exceeded 98% coverage.

The highest coverage of 101% was recorded in Gilgit-Baltistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 94% of children were vaccinated. Punjab and Sindh achieved 99% coverage, while Azad Kashmir and Islamabad also reached 99%. In Balochistan, 97% of children received the polio drops.

Despite the overall success, large numbers of children remained unvaccinated: over 390,000 in Punjab, 235,000 in Sindh, more than 400,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 60,000 in Balochistan, more than 4,000 in Islamabad, over 1,300 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 1,470 in Azad Kashmir.

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) for every child under five during each campaign, alongside timely completion of all routine immunizations.

The continued detection of polio cases shows that children remain at risk in areas with low vaccine acceptance.