Pakistan launches first nationwide polio vaccination drive of 2026

Islamabad, Feb 2 (IANS) Pakistan on Monday launched its first nationwide polio vaccination campaign of 2026, aiming to vaccinate more than 45 million children from February 2 to February 8, the National Emergency Operations Centre said.

The campaign was inaugurated in Islamabad by Prime Minister's Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq, with representatives of UNICEF and the World Health Organization also attending.

Speaking at the ceremony, Farooq said polio eradication remains a top government priority, calling the campaign "crucial" to eliminating the disease.

Pakistan remains one of the few countries where polio is endemic, prompting authorities to intensify nationwide vaccination efforts, Xinhua news agency repoted.

More than 400,000 workers will take part in the drive, carrying out door-to-door vaccination and related activities nationwide.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (for example, contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine.

Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Among those paralysed, 5–10 per cent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.

Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. However, anyone of any age who is unvaccinated can contract the disease.

There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life. There are two vaccines available: oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine. Both are effective and safe, and both are used in different combinations worldwide, depending on local epidemiological and programmatic circumstances, to ensure the best possible protection to populations can be provided.