Third anti-polio drive this year launched to immunize over 33 million Pakistani children

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan resumed its anti-polio immunization drive on Monday, its third this year, to vaccinate 33.6 million children under five in 124 districts across the country and Azad Kashmir.
Anti-polio drives have been disrupted due to security reasons in the past, and most recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the latest initiative, around 223,000 polio workers will visit people’s homes while adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols, including wearing a mask, using a hand sanitiser, and maintaining a safe distance during the vaccination drive.
“To make this campaign successful, cooperate with frontline health workers,” Dr. Shahzad Baig, a coordinator for the End Polio Program (EPP), an offshoot of the health ministry’s Pakistan Polio Eradication Program (PPEP), said in a statement on Monday.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the two countries where polio — a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus — is endemic.
Health officials said the PPEP campaign has been highly successful this year, with only two polio cases reported, a sizeable drop from the 84 cases documented in 2020.
Last month, Health Minister Dr. Faisal Sultan said that despite the “complex challenges” posed by the COVID 19 pandemic,” authorities were “optimistic about controlling polio before the end of 2022.”
He cited recent epidemiological data which showed a drop in polio cases, adding: “Decreased detection of viruses in sewage samples indicates the program is on track.
Polio is a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under the age of five years. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from the disease.
In a separate statement released on Monday, the PPEP encouraged parents to immunize all children under five against the disease.
“Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunizations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free,” it said.