KARACHI – Pakistani vaccinators have resumed a nationwide anti-polio drive to immunise millions of children in a week time.
The first national immunisation campaign of 2023 was halted amid threats from militants who attacked polio workers and security personnel, and the country reported at least four cases of the crippling disease this year.
In Punjab, at least 22 million children will receive polio drops, and in southeastern region Sindh, 85,000 health workers are going door-to-door, reaching out to over 10 million children.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where the polio drive faces most resistance, at least 10 million children will receive vaccination.
These efforts are crucial in the collective mission to create a polio-free Pakistan.
Polio is a highly infectious and debilitating disease that is usually spread through contaminated water or food. Invading the nervous system, the disease can cause total paralysis within hours.
The contagious virus thrived in the borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan where militants attacked and even killed anti-polio teams.
Another child paralyzed as Pakistan reports fourth polio case of 2022
