Polio in Pakistan: Another vaccination campaign begins after worrying surge

Pakistan launches nationwide vaccination campaign to protect 45 million children from polio amid surge in new cases.

Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign on Monday (October 28, 2024) 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 sterilise children.

Pakistan reports two new polio cases; tally rises to 39 this year

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 advisor for the polio eradication programme. “We are re-energised in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.

During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than five will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door.

Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said.

Four new polio cases reported in Pakistan, tally rises to 37 this year