ISLAMABAD: Vaccination campaigns in Pakistan have protected over 160 million children and 130 million mothers over the past five decades, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
The milestone comes ahead of World Immunization Week between Apr. 24 and May 1, highlighting the role of vaccines in preventing disease and saving lives.
Pakistan launched its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1978, building on earlier success in eradicating smallpox, and has since made immunization a cornerstone of its public health strategy.
Vaccines have helped avert an estimated 2.6 million child deaths in Pakistan, while globally they have saved around 154 million lives since 1974, according to the WHO.
“WHO is thankful to all those who have worked and are still working every day to protect millions of children with vaccines,” WHO Representative in Pakistan Luo Dapeng said.
“The scientific evidence is clear: vaccines save lives and protect our children from deadly diseases,” he added. “The science behind WHO-prequalified vaccines is robust, rigorously tested, and unambiguous — and it is this evidence that must guide our decisions, not fear or misinformation.”
Pakistan ranks among the top five countries globally in terms of absolute reductions in child deaths due to vaccination, the WHO said, with immunization averting up to 17 percent of all childhood mortality in the country.
Since 1994, Pakistan has reduced paralytic polio cases by 99.8 percent, from an estimated 20,000 annually to 31 cases in 2025. The country has also achieved elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus in several regions, covering around 80 percent of its population.
WHO said it helps immunize more than 7 million children and 5.5 million women in Pakistan each year against 13 vaccine-preventable diseases, in addition to vaccinating around 45 million children against polio through supplementary campaigns.
The organization noted that immunization has also prevented tens of millions of cases of illness, disability and hospitalization, easing pressure on families and the health system while improving quality of life.
