ISLAMABAD: As a nationwide polio immunisation campaign gets underway today (Monday) with the aim to vaccinate over 45 million children, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari urged parents, caregivers, public representatives and community leaders to actively support the drive to eliminate the virus.
The campaign, which will conclude on Dec 21, aims to cover 45.4m children under five years of age including 23.3m in Punjab, 10.6m in Sindh, 7.3m in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2.66m in Balochistan. Remaining children will be covered in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory.
The drive is being conducted in coordination with Afghanistan’s December polio campaign to curb cross-border virus transmission.
Ms Bhutto-Zardari said the success of the campaign “depended on collective responsibility” and called on families to ensure that every child received polio drops.
“That moment marked the beginning of Pakistan’s national fight against polio and shaped her lifelong commitment to the effort,” the first lady said, recalling that her mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, personally administered the first polio drops to her when the nationwide eradication campaign launched in 1994.
She noted that her mother’s vision continued to guide national efforts and urged citizens to “welcome vaccinators, report missed children and support frontline workers”, emphasising that only united action could stop the virus and protect the future of the country’s children.
A total of 408,484 frontline workers, including area in-charges, medical officers, and mobile, fixed and transit teams, have been deployed nationwide. The campaign will follow a three-day house-to-house vaccination drive with one catch-up day.
In high-risk areas using community-based strategies, a five-day campaign will be conducted with two additional catch-up days. 30 polio cases have been reported across the country so far this year, compared to 74 cases in 2024.
Ms Bhutto-Zardari called upon elected representatives, local government officials, religious leaders and community elders to facilitate access to communities and help counter misinformation and hesitancy.
Meanwhile, as a seven-day polio eradication campaign began in Balochistan, Inam-ul-Haq, the coordinator of the Emergency Operations Centre in Balochistan, said 2.66 million children would be vaccinated.
“The polio virus is present in the province’s environment, putting young children at risk at any time,” Inam-ul-Haq said. “Protecting children’s health is a shared responsibility. If even one child misses the polio drops, all children are at risk.” According to a statement, 11,134 teams have been deployed in both urban and remote areas of the province.
Inam-ul-Haq warned that polio can lead to permanent disability if neglected and urged parents to take their children to the nearest health centre for routine immunisation against other deadly diseases, including measles, tuberculosis and Hepatitis B.
Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2025
