ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health volunteers have vaccinated a total of 44.3 million children against the poliovirus disease in the last six days, health authorities said on Sunday as the nationwide drive against the disease enters its last day today.
The seven-day anti-polio campaign was launched on Dec. 15, targeting children under the age of five. It is being conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) which oversees eradication efforts.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where wild poliovirus transmission has never been interrupted, keeping global eradication efforts at risk. The virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis, has no cure and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination.
“Today is the final day of the last national polio campaign of 2025,” the NEOC said in a statement. “In six days, over 44.3 million children have been vaccinated.”
Giving a breakdown of the numbers, the EOC said approximately 22.9 million children have received polio drops in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, over 10.4 million in Sindh, 7.1 million in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and around 2.54 million children in Balochistan.
