PESHAWAR: A one-day polio campaign was initiated on Sunday in Peshawar with the target of inoculating 754,000 children in 96 union councils of the provincial capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At least 4,223 teams were constituted for the campaign whereas more than 4,000 policemen were deputed for security duty during the campaign.

The district administration also enforced a ban on pillion riding until 5 pm today.

Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic, the other two countries being Afghanistan and Nigeria, but efforts to stamp it out have been badly hit in recent years by attacks on immunisation teams.

Read: The polio pariahs

According to data available with Dawn, 96 per cent polio cases so far reported are among the Pashto-speaking population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata and out of these, residents of North Waziristan Agency's Wazir tribe accounted for 34 per cent of the cases. Earlier in September, KP had reported 25 polio cases for the year with at least five traced back to Fata.

Also read: Most victims of polio virus are Pakhtuns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared that Pakistan is responsible for nearly 80 per cent of polio cases reported globally.

Also read: Pakistan on crutches

To prevent the possible spread of the polio virus from Pakistan to other countries, the WHO imposed strict travel restrictions on the country.

Militant groups often attack polio teams as they see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage. There are also long running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.