LAHORE: The fifth and final polio National Immunisation Days (NIDs) campaign of 2025 will commence across Punjab today (Monday) with the aim to vaccinate over 17 million children under the age of five.

Speaking ahead of the campaign, Adeel Tasawur, Head of the Punjab Polio Programme and EOC Coordinator, said that more than 200,000 trained polio workers and supervisors would be deployed across the province to ensure no child was missed and every child received polio drops.

“Despite significant progress, poliovirus remains a serious threat. Sustaining momentum through high-quality campaigns is critical to interrupt transmission,” Mr Tasawur stated.

Given its status as a core reservoir district, he said, Lahore would observe an extended seven-day campaign, while immunisation activities in all other districts would continue for four days.

The campaign workforce includes 16,605 area in-charges, 3,991 union council medical officers, over 84,000 mobile team members, along with fixed and transit vaccination teams.

Mr Tasawur said that Punjab had reported only one polio case in 2025, even as virus circulation continued in other provinces. Environmental surveillance indicated a decline in virus positivity, falling from 43 per cent in June to 26pc in November, he said. However, 16 districts remained infected, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, and several districts in south Punjab, he added.

The EOC coordinator noted that 78.72pc of positive samples were genetically linked within Punjab, with Lahore emerging as a major source of internal transmission, indicating a shift from imported cases to localised spread. To counter this, Punjab had strengthened transit vaccination points to reach high-risk mobile populations, while communication teams had been actively mapping and profiling mobile groups to ensure vaccination coverage during campaigns.

“The Punjab government remains fully committed to protecting every child. Our frontline workers are our heroes, and their safety and security remain a top priority,” he added.

Mr Tasawur urged parents and communities to welcome polio teams, emphasising that multiple doses of polio drops were safe, effective, and essential to building population immunity.

“With 2026 set as Pakistan’s target year to interrupt poliovirus transmission, Punjab will continue to work relentlessly with national and international partners to achieve a polio-free future,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2025