PM’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication leads review of the September campaign that reached nearly 33 million children, vows to continue focused efforts to protect Pakistani children from devastating effects of polio.

Islamabad, 28, September 2024 at the conclusion of a critical polio vaccination campaign held in September to reach 33 million children with the polio vaccine, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme convened a high-level review meeting in Islamabad to assess campaign outcomes and conduct a detailed review of the successes and challenges.

Led by PM’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication, Ms. Ayesha Raza Farooq, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, Mr. Anwarul Haq, and provincial EOC coordinators reviewed campaign progress in all 116 districts that were covered, the successes and challenges and the way forward to implement more polio campaigns.

During the large-scale campaign that began on September 9, nearly 33 million children under the age of five across 116 districts were vaccinated, marking a significant milestone in the national effort to eradicate polio. The campaign was specially focused on vaccinating children in high-risk areas where the virus has been detected persistently and was meant to ensure protection for children from the crippling poliovirus.

Congratulating the team for conducting an effective campaign that reached its target, Ms. Ayesha Raza Farooq said that through renewed focus on plugging gaps in campaign operations, the program is back on track towards eradication.

“We saw strong inter-provincial coordination and collaboration between provincial governments, health teams, and law enforcement agencies. We also made tremendous efforts to update our understanding of migrant and mobile populations to be able to better reach these moving communities and vaccinate vulnerable children,” she said. “We are seeing progress in some key areas, but we will see there is still much work to do as we prepare for the October campaign.”