ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top polio official on Tuesday praised the country’s female vaccination workers for their “extraordinary contribution” to the eradication drive, saying their efforts were central to ending the virus as Pakistan marked the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign to promote women’s rights and safety.

Female health workers administer the majority of polio drops in Pakistan, going door to door in remote, high-risk and conservative communities where women are best positioned to gain access to children.

Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, alongside neighboring Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The country has so far reported 30 cases this year.

“What you do is extraordinary, and your courage in all circumstances is the reason Pakistan will soon be polio-free,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio eradication, during a meeting with frontline workers in Islamabad.

“Pakistan’s real strength in this program is its female polio workers,” she added.

Farooq said she had listened to the concerns of field teams and assured them of full government support.

She maintained that female vaccinators had shown “remarkable bravery” despite difficult terrain, security concerns and community resistance in some areas.

In October, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) named Farooq Pakistan’s first gender champion for her leadership in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in public health and in the eradication effort.

Pakistan is scheduled to kick off the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive of 2025, according to the National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC), with an aim to inoculate 45 million children.

The NEOC has also urged parents to coordinate with health workers during the campaign.