Week-long anti-polio drive in Balochistan targets over 2.6m children

• Over 11,000 teams to participate in vaccination drive.
• More than 2.6 million children to receive anti-polio drops.
• Security arrangements made regarding polio teams.
  

QUETTA: A seven-day anti-polio vaccination drive has commenced today in Balochistan — the worst-hit province by the crippling disease with 27 cases in 2024 so far.

As many as 11,600 teams will participate in the inoculation drive, as per the Emergency Operation Centre inoculation drive with officials saying that more than 2.6 million children up to five years of age would be administered anti-polio drops.

Furthermore, security arrangements have also been made along with the polio teams, noted EOC officials.

Balochistan EOC Coordinator Inamul-Haq has urged parents, media and citizens to play their role in making the anti-polio campaign successful.

Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, and the number of cases on a yearly basis had significantly dropped in the country, until the recent spike in cases.

Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme explains that polio is a "paralysing" disease with "no cure" and "the completion of the routine vaccination for all children under the age of five" just provides them "high immunity against this terrible disease".

The country has witnessed an alarming rise in the spread of poliovirus and reported 67 cases of the crippling disease in 2024. Meanwhile, 19 cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh each.

Islamabad and Punjab have reported one child each with the crippling disease.

The government has launched multiple vaccination drives as part of its efforts to wipe the disease out of the country. The latest was the countrywide campaign, the last for 2024, earlier this month.

However, the country's rigorous efforts towards polio eradication face significant challenges, particularly in areas where insecurity, misinformation, and parental refusals hinder vaccination campaigns.

With over 60% of children affected by polio in 2024 having not received routine immunisation, health authorities established a high-level committee to improve coordination between the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).