KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday vowed to intensify efforts to eradicate polio from the province, announcing three large-scale oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaigns scheduled for September, October and December 2025.

The announcement came during a meeting between the CM and a six-member delegation from the Rotary Foundation led by its Trustee Chair Holger Knaack at the CM House.

Participants of the meeting were Rotary International PolioPlus Committee Chair Michael K. McGovern, Pakistan PolioPlus Committee National Chair Aziz Memon, Past Rotary International Director Muhammad Faiz Kidwai, Shakeel Kaimkhani, Rotary International Sindh District Governor Shakeel Kaimkhani and District Governor Elect Shahzad Sabir.

The CM was assisted by Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and Secretary to the CM Raheem Shaikh.

Mr Shah said that to bolster polio eradication efforts, the Sindh government has implemented several initiatives, including the establishment of accountability measures and mobilisation of 1,300 support teams to assist frontline workers. “Notably, refusal conversion committees in Karachi have succeeded in reducing vaccine refusals by 15 per cent. During the meeting, the CM highlighted the alarming rise in polio cases, with Sindh reporting 23 cases in 2024 and six cases so far in 2025, including the last recorded case in Badin in July 2025.

However, he noted promising signs from the environmental surveillance, indicating a decrease in the presence of the polio virus, with one-third of samples from Karachi and Hyderabad returning negative results for both June and July 2025.

The Rotary Foundation has contributed approximately $500 million to enhance the national polio programme and pledged continued support for advocacy and engagement among high-level stakeholders.

The CM expressed gratitude for the partnership and emphasised the unique opportunity to achieve success in the fight against polio in the coming months.

One of the polio campaigns is set to target children up to 15 years of age.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2025