ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has achieved a massive logistical feat, vaccinating over 43.3 million children against polio in its latest national campaign. However, this success is overshadowed by a grave warning from the Global Polio Monitoring Board that overall eradication efforts are “failing.”
The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) confirmed the figure from the first five days of the drive, which is pursuing a total target of 45 million children.
The battle is against an incurable enemy: polio, a highly infectious disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Pakistan, alongside Afghanistan, remains one of the last two countries in the world where the virus is still endemic.
The operational scale is vast: statistics show over 22.9 million children were reached in Punjab, 10.2 million in Sindh, 6.1 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and over 2.5 million in Balochistan.
In the provincial capital of Lahore, driven by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s “Zero Polio Punjab” vision, oversight was strict. A review meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Syed Moosa Raza was told that 2.21 million children were vaccinated, including a commendable 73,900 children who had been previously missed.
Yet, despite these impressive numbers, the ground reality remains alarming. The Monitoring Board’s warning comes as a new polio case was confirmed in Hyderabad in September, bringing the national tally to 27 this year. In July, environmental samples from 87 districts across the country showed a 36% positivity rate for the poliovirus, indicating its widespread circulation.
The army of over 200,000 polio workers continues to face persistent challenges, including security threats, vaccine hesitancy, and deep-rooted misinformation.
The Lahore Deputy Commissioner reiterated a zero-tolerance policy for failure. “Achieving targets is essential… action will be taken against officers who fail,” he warned. “Making Lahore polio-free is our collective responsibility; we must fulfill this national duty for the future of our children.”
