Asif Khan was born into a household in which no children had ever been vaccinated.

Living in the remote settlement of Sharan Sheikhan in Union Council Gharwandi, District Musakhel, and cut off from routine health services, he was on track to remain unprotected like many before him, until a vaccination team from the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN) reached the village for the first time in December 2025.

Surrounded by rugged mountains, and disconnected from the road network, Sharan Sheikhan lies nearly 45 kilometres from the district headquarters, a journey that takes more than two and a half hours by motorcycle across rocky, slippery terrain.

For years, this physical isolation kept routine health services out, leaving children like Asif unprotected against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Asif’s parents understood what that meant. When his older children, then around four to five years old, fell ill with measles, Asif’s father, Latif Sheikh, recognised their tell-tale rashes as a sign of danger.

He travelled nearly 25 kilometres with them to the nearest tehsil, Kingri, in search of medical care. There, they visited a private doctor and received treatment. After completing the prescribed course of treatment, the children gradually recovered and regained their health.

“We were always worried about our children,” he said. “After hearing about children dying from measles, I feared the same for my youngest.”