Pakistan vaccinates over 43 million children in latest anti-polio drive

Peshawar, Oct 19 (PTI) Over 43.3 million children up to five years of age in Pakistan have been vaccinated against polio in the first five days of the anti-polio campaign across the country, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Sunday.

More than 22.9 million children have received the oral polio vaccine in Punjab, while approximately 10.2 million children were immunised in Sindh province.

More than 6.1 million children have been vaccinated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 2.5 million in Balochistan, around 4,43,000 in Islamabad, and nearly 1.27 million children in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The NEOC urged parents to ensure that every child under five years of age receives the polio vaccine, the outlet added.

Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

A NOEC report showed that in September, the number of children remaining unvaccinated due to parental refusals had come down in the recent immunisation drive compared to the previous campaign.

Pakistan has reported 29 cases this year, the National Institute of Health (NIH) reported on September 29.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis, and the only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) for every child under the age of five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of all routine immunisations. PTI AYZ SKS SKS RD SKS