Pakistan vaccinates over 41.6 million children as nationwide polio drive enters 5th day

KARACHI: Pakistan has vaccinated more than 41.6 million children throughout the country as part of an ongoing polio immunization campaign nationwide, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Friday.

The week-long campaign launched on Monday, with officials aiming to reach over 45 million children across Pakistan, amid efforts to eradicate the paralytic disease. Pakistan is one of only two countries alongside Afghanistan where wild poliovirus still remains an endemic.

According to the NEOC, 22.5 million children have so far been vaccinated in Punjab, 9.3 million in Sindh, 5.9 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2.3 million in Balochistan, 367,000 in Islamabad, 293,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 729,000 children in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The South Asian country, which is home to 241 million people, has reported 29 polio cases so far this year, including 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in Sindh and one each in Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.

“Joint and sustained efforts continue for the complete eradication of polio,” the NEOC said, warning that polio “is a dangerous disease that can cause lifelong paralysis.”