Pakistan polio vaccination: Pakistan has launched its final nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign of 2025, targeting around 45 million children in a renewed push to stop transmission of the crippling virus.
The week-long drive is the country’s fifth national campaign this year, following Pakistan’s record of 30 polio cases since January, a sharp decline from the 74 cases reported during the same period last year, according to official figures. Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where polio is still endemic.
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Health Minister Mustafa Kamal appealed to parents to cooperate with vaccination teams, warning that every new case puts more children at risk. Authorities said the operation involves more than 400,000 frontline workers conducting door-to-door immunisation across all provinces and regions, including Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Islamabad.
Despite repeated nationwide drives, the programme continues to face security challenges. Militant groups have long targeted polio workers and the police assigned to protect them, fuelled by misinformation that vaccination campaigns are linked to foreign plots. Officials said thousands of police officers have been deployed this month following intelligence warnings about possible attacks. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and security personnel have been killed in such incidents.
Authorities said the December campaign is being carried out in coordination with Afghanistan to strengthen immunity on both sides of the border and reduce cross-border spread. Officials described the drive as a critical final push to reach children in remaining high-risk areas and keep the virus from gaining ground again.