Anti-polio drive to immunise 5.7 mn children kicks off in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid tight security

Peshawar, Aug 28 (PTI) An anti-polio drive to immunise 5.7 million children in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was launched amid tight security measures on Thursday.

The immunisation campaign was formally inaugurated at the Police Services Hospital here by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Adviser on Health Ehtesham Ali “We have developed a more organised and strategic approach this time, especially in areas where cases have recently been reported,” he told reporters.

Of the 15 polio cases confirmed in KP so far this year, 13 were detected in the southern areas of the province, Ali said.

The campaign will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, beginning September 1, will run for four days and cover Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda and 16 other districts, with three more districts being covered partially, the provincial health department said.

The second phase, scheduled from September 15, will run for three days and focus on Bannu, Bajaur and seven districts in the Dera Ismail Khan division, according to the health department.

A total of 27,000 vaccination teams will be deployed for the seven-day drive, with around 40,000 security personnel assigned to protect them.

Polio vaccinators, who conduct door-to-door inoculations, have often been targeted by militants, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

In 2024 alone, 20 people were killed and 53 others injured during such campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Two new polio cases were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on August 26, raising the province's tally for this year to 15, while the nationwide figure has reached 23.

“Committees have been formed to engage and convince reluctant parents, and efforts are underway to address local resistance," Ali said, noting that misinformation, refusal by parents to vaccinate their children, and security threats continue to hamper eradication efforts.

“Insecurity in certain districts has made it difficult to consistently run successful campaigns,” he said, adding that a fresh drive was launched in South Waziristan this year after a gap of two years.

Echoing similar concerns, KP Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, who was also present at the event, said merged districts and the southern belt of the province remained the most challenging areas.

“Our teams are facing real challenges, but the government and the Pakistan Army are actively helping to maintain law and order in these sensitive areas,” he said.

Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, remains among the last two countries in the world where polio is still endemic. Security threats, vaccine hesitancy and widespread misinformation continue to slow eradication efforts. PTI AYZ SCY SCY