ISLAMABAD, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Monday launched a sub-national polio vaccination campaign across 79 high-risk districts, aiming to immunize around 19 million children under the age of five, said an official statement.
The country's Ministry of Health said that the week-long campaign, running from May 18 to 24, is being conducted through the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, with more than 160,000 frontline workers deployed to administer oral polio vaccine door-to-door across targeted areas.
According to the ministry, the campaign will immunize children in the country's four provinces as well as in the capital Islamabad as part of the intensified efforts to eradicate the virus from the country.
"More than 160,000 trained frontline workers will fan out across the country, going door-to-door to ensure every eligible child receives life-saving protection," added the ministry.
Pakistan has made significant progress against the disease over the past three decades, said the ministry, noting that annual polio cases have declined sharply from more than 20,000 in the early 1990s to 31 reported cases in 2025, while only three confirmed cases have been recorded so far this year.
Despite the decline, health authorities warned that the virus continues to circulate in some areas, particularly among traveling and high-risk populations, making repeated vaccination campaigns essential to interrupt transmission. ■