Massive polio vaccination drive begins in Pakistan

A massive anti-polio drive to vaccinate 6.75 million children started in 33 districts of Pakistan on Monday, amidst fresh reports of the disease surfacing in the country's southwest Balochistan province, according to media reports. In an appeal to new parents in an awareness drive on Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said, "To the mothers who are watching this, I request you to go to the health workers and get your children vaccinated yourself if they haven't been administered with polio drops."

It is a matter of shame that Pakistan is one of the two countries in the world where polio is still prevalent, he had said. In the five-day anti-polio drive, 6.75 million children below the age of five years will be vaccinated.

The Emergency Operation Centre, in Balochistan alone, will administer anti-polio drops to more than 2 million children, The Express Tribune reported. Vitamin-A drops will also be given to the children as part of the campaign.

Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose party is in power in the province, opened the anti-polio campaign in Balochistan on Monday, administering the vaccine to children in Quetta. According to the WHO, only three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria - have never stopped transmission of polio.

Pakistan made good progress against polio in 2017 when polio cases dropped to just 8, but they increased subsequently to 12 in 2018 and 98 so far in 2019.