Polio eradication drive 2026: Oral vaccine administered to 17.3 million children

LAHORE: This week, the Punjab government executed a province-wide polio elimination program, which provided oral polio vaccines to 17300000 children.

According to official sources, the successful drive lasted five days during which 1.527 million children received vaccinations in Lahore alone.

The Polio Eradication Program director confirmed that all 35 districts of Punjab were successfully targeted by the campaign, which reached all its planned areas.

Parents and guardians have been advised to report any children who missed vaccination by calling the helpline 1166, said Adeel Tasawar. The nationwide anti-polio drive was also conducted simultaneously in other parts of the country, including Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, and Balochistan.

In Sindh, officials reported that 1.04 million children received vaccinations to protect them from the disease, which causes paralysis. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, approximately 7.1 million children received polio drops, while 2.1 million children received vaccinations in Balochistan.

The National Emergency Operations Centre NEOC reported that more than 673000 children received vaccinations in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while more than 261000 children received vaccinations in Gilgit-Baltistan, and more than 455000 children received vaccinations in Islamabad.

The NEOC reported that more than 400000 anti-polio workers carried out door-to-door operations to vaccinate children who were under five years of age.

The administration of the polio vaccine to every child below the age of five is mandatory. The campaign is being conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which represent the two remaining countries that continue to experience polio outbreaks.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has operated since 1994 to eliminate the poliovirus from Pakistan. The initiative is supported by one of the world’s largest disease surveillance networks.