Pakistan to 'launch' anti-polio campaign next month

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will ‘launch’ first nationwide anti-polio campaign of 2025 from next month, ARY News reported on Monday, citing sources.

As per details, the anti-polio drive will be launched from February 3 to 9. It will target over 4.54 million children across the country.

Sources privy to the development said that a three-day campaign with two additional catch-up days will be carried out in general areas of the country.

A five-day campaign followed by two catch-up days, featuring community-based vaccinations and deployment of special mobile teams in the sensitive areas, sources within NEOC said.
Over 450,000 workers will be mobilized for the effort.

In 2024, Pakistan reported 73 polio cases and collected over 480 polio-positive sewage samples nationwide, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive vaccination campaigns.

Earlier, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed the detection of the wild poliovirus case type 1 (WPV1) in the country.

Polio

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity against this terrible disease.

The Pakistan Polio Program conducts multiple mass vaccination drives in a year, bringing the vaccine to children at their doorsteps, while the Expanded Program on Immunization provides vaccinations against 12 childhood disease free of charge at health facilities.

The year’s first Polio vaccination campaign is scheduled to be conducted nationwide from February 3- 9, 2025.

It is crucial for parents to ensure vaccination for all their children under the age of five to keep them protected.