KARACHI: Pakistan has entered the final days of a nationwide immunization campaign aiming to protect more than 35 million children against measles, rubella and polio, with health officials reporting that over 13.6 million children have already received polio drops in the first nine days of the drive.
The campaign, running from Nov. 17–29, is one of Pakistan’s largest child-health efforts this year, combining measles–rubella vaccination with intensified polio coverage in high-risk areas.
Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, other than Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic, making repeated vaccination essential to prevent outbreaks. Measles and rubella have also surged in recent years due to low routine immunization rates, population mobility and misinformation, prompting authorities to merge the campaigns and widen coverage across schools, madrassas, health facilities and temporary vaccination centers nationwide.
“In the first nine days, more than 13.6 million children have been given polio drops,” the National Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said, adding that 35.4 million children were being administered the measles–rubella vaccine, while 19.4 million children in 90 high-risk districts were receiving polio drops.
