ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for 2025 from tomorrow, aiming to immunize more than 45 million children under the age of five, health authorities said on Sunday, as the country remains at the center of global efforts to eradicate the disease.

Global polio tracking data shows that 30 of the 39 confirmed wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases worldwide 2025 were reported in Pakistan, with the remainder in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023 and just one case in 2021, highlighting the volatility of eradication efforts in a country where misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and security issues have repeatedly disrupted progress.

“The final national polio campaign of 2025 will formally begin across the country from tomorrow,” Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.

“During the campaign, polio drops will be administered to more than 45 million children nationwide,” it said, adding that the seven-day drive would run from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21.

The NEOC said more than 400,000 male and female polio workers would take part in the campaign, with vaccination targets including over 23 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.6 million in Balochistan and smaller numbers in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“Protecting children from polio is a shared national responsibility,” the NEOC said. “Parents must fully cooperate with polio workers to secure the future of the nation.”

It urged families to ensure that all children under five years of age receive the required two drops of the vaccine during the campaign.

Pakistan has drastically reduced polio prevalence since the 1990s, when annual cases exceeded 20,000.

By 2018, the number had fallen to eight. But health authorities warn that without consistent access to children — particularly in high-risk and underserved regions — eradication will remain out of reach.

Violence has also hampered the program. Polio teams and their security escorts have frequently come under attack from militants in parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan.

Officials say continued security threats, along with natural disasters such as recent flooding, remain major obstacles to reaching every child.