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.