Islamabad, Dec 31 (NationPress) A week-long anti-polio vaccination initiative has officially started in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which has been identified as the region most severely affected by this debilitating illness, reporting 27 cases in the year 2024.
The provincial Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) has announced that over 11,600 teams will be actively involved in this campaign, aiming to deliver anti-polio drops to more than 2.6 million children under the age of five.
Officials from the EOC have highlighted that security measures have been put in place to safeguard the polio vaccination teams throughout the duration of the campaign.
Inamul Haq, the Coordinator for Balochistan EOC, has called upon parents, the media, and community members to contribute to the success of this crucial anti-polio effort.
This vaccination drive will feature both door-to-door efforts and the establishment of fixed vaccination points in public areas, with the goal of ensuring that no child is overlooked, as reported by Xinhua.
Pakistan, alongside Afghanistan, remains one of the last two polio-endemic nations globally. The country has faced a troubling increase in poliovirus cases, with a total of 68 reported cases in 2024.
On December 27, Pakistan confirmed two additional polio cases, raising the annual total to 67, as per the National Institute of Health (NIH).
These confirmed cases emerged from the northwest district of Tank and the southern district of Kashmore, according to NIH reports.
The NIH indicated that these were the fourth case from Tank and the second case from Kashmore in the current year.
Data indicates that of the total cases, 27 were from Balochistan, 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and the capital Islamabad.
The most recent extensive vaccination campaign was conducted earlier in December across 143 districts, targeting over 44 million children under five years of age. The second phase of this campaign was planned for December 30.
On December 3, Pakistan reported three more polio cases, which brought the year's total to 59.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at NIH confirmed the identification of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) in three children from various regions of the country.
One case was reported in the Dera Ismail Khan district, while the other two were confirmed in the southern port city of Karachi and the southern district of Kashmore, respectively.
The Pakistan Polio Programme has organized several mass vaccination campaigns throughout 2024.
