ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities kicked off a week-long campaign to vaccinate 24 million children against poliovirus in 91 selected districts on Monday, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported, as Islamabad tries to eliminate the potentially fatal disease from the country. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the poliovirus, which causes paralysis and can be a life-threatening disease, is endemic.

“The campaign is being held in ten districts of Punjab, 24 districts of Sindh, 26 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 30 districts of Balochistan, and the federal capital Islamabad,” Radio Pakistan said, adding that 24 million children under the age of five would be administered the vaccine in these districts. 

Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, coordinator to the prime minister on National Health Services, said the government is committed to ensuring that all children are protected from poliovirus. 

“Poliovirus has been detected in multiple sewage samples in the country in recent months which means this virus remains a serious threat to children’s wellbeing,” Dr. Bharat was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) on Sunday. 

He said the only way to protect children from the disease is to vaccinate them against it. “We are sending polio teams to your homes, so make sure to open your door to vaccinators and get your child vaccinated,” he added. 

Dr. Shahzad Baig, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication described it as a “critical campaign” being held in districts with a high risk of poliovirus spread. 

“We have detected the virus in over 31 districts this year, which is why we are continuing to implement regular vaccination campaigns in all high-risk districts to ensure that children have the immunity to fight off polio infection,” he said. 

Pakistan’s efforts to contain polio have often been met with opposition, especially in the country’s northwestern KP province, where militants have carried out attacks against vaccinators and the security teams guarding them. 

Many believe in the conspiracy theory that polio vaccines are part of a plot by Western outsiders to sterilize Pakistan’s population.

Pakistani masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake hepatitis vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.