ISLAMABAD, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The first nationwide polio vaccination campaign in 2024 began in Pakistan on Monday to protect children from paralytic polio, the Pakistani Health Ministry said.
During the ongoing nationwide campaign, more than 44.3 million children under five will be given oral polio drops during the five-day-long campaign which will continue until Jan. 12, the ministry said in a statement.
Over 400,000 vaccinators will bring the vaccine to children's doorstep, it added.
Shahzad Baig, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, urged parents to open their doors to vaccinators so that their children can receive this essential vaccine.
"Polio has no cure, and it is a devastating disease that affects not just individual children but also changes the lives of the whole family," Baig was quoted as saying in a statement. ■
