Pakistan starts week-long polio vaccination push

Pakistan on Monday launched a sub-national polio vaccination campaign across 79 high-risk districts, with the goal of immunizing around 19 million children under the age of five, according to an official statement, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

The country’s Ministry of Health said the week-long campaign, running from May 18 to 24, is being carried out through the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication.

More than 160,000 frontline workers have been deployed to administer oral polio vaccines door-to-door in targeted areas.

According to the ministry, the campaign will vaccinate children across Pakistan’s four provinces as well as the capital, Islamabad, as part of intensified national efforts to eliminate the virus.

“More than 160,000 trained frontline workers will fan out across the country, going door-to-door to ensure every eligible child receives life-saving protection,” the ministry added.

The ministry stated that Pakistan has made major progress in combating the disease over the past three decades, noting that annual polio cases have dropped significantly from more than 20,000 in the early 1990s to 31 reported cases in 2025, while only three confirmed cases have been recorded so far this year.

Despite the decline in infections, health authorities warned that the virus continues to circulate in certain areas, particularly among traveling and high-risk populations, making repeated vaccination campaigns necessary to stop transmission.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev