Pakistan to extend polio vaccination to children up to 15

ISLAMABAD: The polio vaccination drive will now include children up to the age of 15 as the Ministry of Health has announced the expansion of the campaign.

This campaign will be initiated in November in Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta in the first phase.

The coordinator of the Polio Eradication Program, Captain (retd) Anwarul Haq, said that the decision was taken on the advice of the Polio Eradication Technical Advisory Group.

Previously, only children under five were vaccinated, but persistent traces of the virus in Lahore and Karachi prompted the need for a broader approach.

The vaccine program will reach four million youngsters in Karachi and 1.5 million in Lahore, making it one of the biggest in recent times, according to Haq.

In Quetta, an injection-based program will also be started to guarantee greater coverage and improved immunity in kids living in high-risk regions.

Pakistan’s attempts to eliminate polio suffered a significant setback recently when foreign funding was cut by as much as 20%, with the United States cutting back on its donations to international health organizations.

Pakistan’s health officials were compelled by the shortage to reorganize vaccination programs and advocate for a one-year deadline to eradicate the virus.

Total Polio cases in Pakistan 2025

Authorities confirmed a new case of polio in Sindh’s Hyderabad district on Monday, taking the total number of polio cases nationwide this year to 27.

The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad reported that the latest case involved an eight-month-old girl.

Sindh has now reported seven cases in 2025, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the worst-hit province with 18 cases. Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan have reported one case each so far.