• Kids to also receive supplementary Vitamin A dose during the week-long drive
• Over 830,000 children are missed every time

ISLAMABAD: While 830,000 children are missed during every polio campaign, another nationwide campaign to vaccinate 45 million under five children will begin on Monday in 159 districts.

According to the Nat­ional Emer­g­ency Oper­a­tions Centre (NEOC) the campaign will start from Oct 13 and it will end on Oct 19. Children will also receive a supplementary dose of Vitamin A to boost their immunity.

According to NEOC, in Southern Khyber Pakh­t­u­nkhwa, the polio campaign will be conducted separately from Oct 20 to 23, to ensure comprehensive coverage in the region. The NEOC has emphasised the importance of timely completion of the routine immunisation sch­edule for all children of up to 15 months.

A polio programme official, wishing not to be named, said more than 400,000 frontline health workers, including 225,000 female vaccinators, will go door-to-door across Baloc­h­istan, Sindh, Khyber Pak­htu­nkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Isl­a­m­abad, ensuring no child is missed.

“This campaign is especially critical. The recent flooding across several regions has increased the risk of polio transmission and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Standing wat­er, poor sanitation, and displacement have created conditions for the virus to spread, making it urgent to vaccinate every child under five,” he said.

Last week, Prime Min­i­s­ter’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq during a media interaction, had said that the number of children missing polio vaccination drive has come down from over 1.1 million in October 2024 to around 830,000 in May 2025.

She said that sustained coordination, joint planning, and unified action are essential to closing immunity gaps. She noted that these efforts were particularly critical in high-risk areas such as the south Khyber Pakht­u­n­khwa (KP) block and Kar­a­chi, where poliovirus continued to be detected in environmental samples.

Over 2.6m to be covered in Balochistan

In Balochistan, polio teams will target over 2.66 million children under the age of five for polio vac­c­i­n­ation. Emergency Operations Centre coordinator Inamul Haq said on Sunday that all arrangements for the campaign have been finalised, and 11,144 teams will participate across the province, including 825 fixed teams and 476 transit teams.

He warned that the pol­iovirus is present in Bal­ochistan’s environment, posing a constant threat to children’s health.

“This campaign is vital to protect children from the virus and eliminate poliovirus from the environment,” he said, emphasising that parents must ensure their children rec­eive the vaccine, as polio can cause lifelong, irreversible paralysis.

Mr Haq further said the campai­gn’s success depends on public cooperation. He appealed to civil soc­iety, teachers, and religious leaders to raise awareness and encourage parents to get their children vaccinated.

Highlighting the importance of immunisation, he reminded parents that routine vaccines protect children from 12 deadly diseases, including measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and diphtheria. He urged parents to visit nearby health centres and ensure their children receive all vaccines on time.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025