ISLAMABAD: More than 23.8 million children have been vaccinated against polio during the first six days of the ongoing sub-national immunisation campaign, which entered its final day on Sunday across 97 selected districts of the country, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said.
The campaign, which commenced on November 2, is targeting approximately 24 million children under five years of age, with more than 200,000 frontline polio workers participating in the nationwide vaccination drive.
According to the NEOC, the vaccination campaign is being conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of coordinated regional efforts to eliminate poliovirus transmission and protect children against the crippling disease.
The provincial and regional vaccination figures showed that more than 9.126 million children had received polio drops in 13 selected districts of Punjab, while over 7.019 million children were vaccinated in 20 selected districts of Sindh.
Similarly, more than 4.673 million children received polio drops in 27 selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), while over 2.212 million children were vaccinated in 31 selected districts of Balochistan.
In Islamabad, more than 450,000 children were vaccinated, while over 161,000 children received polio drops in three selected districts of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), approximately 192,000 children were vaccinated in two selected districts during the campaign.
The NEOC further reported that Pakistan had recorded nine polio cases so far this year, warning that the threat of poliovirus continued to persist across the country.
It stressed that polio was an incurable disease and vaccination remained the only effective means of preventing the lifelong disability caused by the virus.
The NEOC urged parents and caregivers to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure that all children below five years of age received polio drops during the campaign. It also advised parents to complete their children’s routine immunisation schedules on time.
Parents can contact the polio helpline at 1166 or send a WhatsApp message to 0346-7776546 for assistance or information regarding vaccination services.
The NEOC emphasized that sustained public cooperation and repeated vaccination were essential to achieving a polio-free Pakistan. –Agencies
