ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch a week-long polio vaccination campaign in 97 selected districts on Nov. 2 as part of its ongoing efforts to protect children against the crippling disease, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Monday.

Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis and, in some cases, death. It can be prevented through safe and effective polio vaccines.

Pakistan has reported six wild poliovirus type 1 cases reported so far this year, including four in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The country aims to vaccinate more than 23.9 million children during the vaccination drive that will start on Nov. 2 and last till Nov. 8, according to the NEOC.

“Providing children with a polio-free future is our shared national responsibility,” the NEOC said. “To ensure the complete eradication of polio, parents must extend full cooperation to polio teams.”

Over 9.278 million children are likely to be inoculated in 13 selected districts of Punjab, over 6.883 million in 20 districts of Sindh, over 4.808 million in 27 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and over 2.217 million children in 31 districts of Balochistan, according to the NEOC.

In Islamabad, over 447,000 children are likely to receive polio vaccine, while over 153,000 children will be immunized in three districts of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and over 183,000 children in two selected districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic.

Pakistan has conducted repeated nationwide and targeted vaccination campaigns as it seeks to halt the transmission of wild poliovirus. Last month, Pakistan vaccinated 29.3 million in a nationwide polio vaccinate drive.

However, Pakistan’s polio campaigns have long been hampered by misinformation and vaccine refusals, as well as attacks by militant groups, who falsely claim polio vaccines are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children or cause infertility.

Last month, unidentified gunmen killed two police constables deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in Balochistan, a police official said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to government data, Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8 percent from an estimated 20,000 cases in the early 1990s to 31 last year.