Pakistan: Last polio vaccination campaign of 2024
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the last large-scale polio vaccination campaign of the year on Friday at PM House where he administered polio drops to children, expressing the resolute resolve to protect every child from paralytic polio and eliminate this terrible disease from Pakistan.
In a speech, PM Shehbaz said: “The resurgence of poliovirus this year has affected 63 children. Every one of these children, and every child in Pakistan, deserves to live a healthy and fulfilling life without disability caused by an easily preventable disease. While we are fighting the polio outbreak on a war footing, this year has been a reminder that until we eliminate polio, no child anywhere is safe.”
The polio campaign will be held in the country from December 16 to December 22 to vaccinate more than 44 million children under the age of five in 143 districts. This is the last polio campaign of this year during which Pakistan has relentlessly fought an intense resurgence of poliovirus that has the affected 59 children and seen the spread of the virus to 82 districts.
Urging parents and communities nationwide to get children vaccinated, the PM said: “Our polio workers will be coming to your doorstep with a vaccine that protects your child from irreversible lifelong disability. As parents and guardians of Pakistan’s future generations, I urge you to take the responsible decision to open your doors and bring your children forward for vaccination.”
Since the launch of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme in 1994, systematic house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns – like the one being held next week – have helped reduce the number of polio cases significantly from an estimated 20,000 in the 1990s to double digits in recent years, highlighting the crucial impact of childhood vaccination programmes.
“While the government is determined to remove the scourge of polio from Pakistan, the success of our polio eradication efforts also depends on the collective efforts of every segment of society. We appeal to parents, caregivers, community leaders, religious scholars, and healthcare professionals to play their part in promoting the importance of this really critical vaccine,” he said.