Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases

Islamabad: Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampe...

Islamabad: Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated.

Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common.

Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday "in response to the alarming increase in polio cases,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's adviser for the polio eradication program.

"We are re-energized in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.