The last nationwide polio campaign of 2025 began on Monday, with the aim of vaccinating 45.5 million children across the country, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

The week-long polio drive is set to run until December 21.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. So far, the country has recorded 30 polio cases, with the highest number of cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 19.

According to the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC), more than 400,000 frontline polio workers will take part in the campaign. More than 23m children will be immunised in Punjab, over 16m in Sindh, more than 7.2m in KP and over 2.6m in Balochistan. In Islamabad, the campaign aims to vaccinate over 400,000 children.

In Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah inaugurated the polio campaign in Karachi by administering polio drops to children.

“Over 10.6m children will be vaccinated across 30 districts and 1,345 union councils, with 80,000+ frontline workers & 21,000 cops deployed,” the Sindh CM House said on X.

Addressing the ceremony, CM Murad urged parents, influencers, and communities to cooperate with polio workers during the campaign.

He noted that there had been a “surge” in cases in the past two to three years, noting that Sindh had recorded nine cases in 2025.

The chief minister also recalled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s efforts towards polio eradication. “She administered polio drops to her own daughter Aseefa,” Murad said.

He also remarked that it was “a cause for shame that Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated”, calling on the media to “play their part”.

“In the past year, as well, I requested the media to play a public service message of 5-10 seconds before every hourly news headlines for polio awareness,” he said, lamenting that no channel had implemented this.

Meanwhile, PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, who is also a member of the National Assembly, urged parents and communities to ensure the vaccination of every child under the age of five.

“As Pakistan enters the final polio vaccination campaign of 2025 from December 15-21, I urge parents, communities and leaders to ensure every child under five is vaccinated. This mission, launched under Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, must be completed together,” she said on X.

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine for every child under five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of all essential immunisations.