KARACHI: Pakistan will launch a nationwide vaccination drive against measles, rubella and polio from Nov. 17 till Nov. 29, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) announced on Sunday.

Measles, rubella, and polio are highly contagious diseases that continue to pose public health challenges in Pakistan, particularly among children. Measles and rubella spread through respiratory droplets and can cause pneumonia and encephalitis, while polio attacks the nervous system and can lead to irreversible paralysis. In the past three years, Pakistan has reported more than 131,000 measles cases, the NECO said. 

While all three diseases are preventable through vaccination, sporadic outbreaks in the past have highlight gaps in immunization coverage, misinformation and access to health care in remote areas in the South Asian country of over 241 million people. The NEOC said all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years will be provided with free vaccines during the nationwide vaccination campaign.

“In specific high-risk districts, polio drops will be administered along with measles, rubella vaccine so that every child is protected,” it said in a statement.

“The vaccines will be provided free of charge at government health centers, schools, madrasas (religious seminaries) and temporary vaccination points.”

The measles-rubella (MR) vaccine will protect 35 million children aged 6 months to under five years nationwide, the NEOC said. 

Meanwhile, oral polio vaccination drops will be administered in 89 high-risk districts, reaching 22.9 million children under five to protect them from lifelong paralysis.

“Together, this nationwide effort will protect more than 36.4 million children across Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Islamabad,” the NEOC said. 

Last month, Pakistan ran a week-long, anti-polio immunization campaign, with vaccinators going door-to-door to inoculate over 45 million children nationwide despite multiple attacks.

Pakistan, one of the last two nations in the world along with Afghanistan where the disease remains endemic, has reported 30 polio cases so far this year.