Pakistan launches anti-polio drive, aims to reach more than 10m children

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched an anti-polio campaign to administer the vaccine to more than 10 million children under five years of age, excerpts from a statement released on Monday read.
“Thousands of frontline workers will go from door to door to ensure more than 10.25 million children receive the two drops of the vaccine which will protect them against the poliovirus,” the statement by the National Emergency Operations Center Against Polio said, adding that despite significant achievements, the virus “finds way for its survival.”
“Therefore, a special immunization campaign (has been) planned in all the core reservoirs to kill the wild polio virus forever,” the statement added.
Pakistan is one of the three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the polio virus remains endemic.
Despite concentrated efforts, Pakistan has not been able to eradicate the disease, with “23 cases of wild poliovirus reported in the country.”
On Monday, Babar bin Atta, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio requested parents to “avoid fake propaganda against the polio vaccine and vaccinate their children.”
In April this year, a misinformation campaign launched in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province triggered panic in the area, with mobs burning a village health center, blocking a highway and indulging in vandalism.