Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, said in Islamabad that the first nationwide polio vaccination campaign will begin across the country from February 2.
Addressing a press conference, Ayesha Raza Farooq said that the first national anti-polio campaign is being launched from February 2, during which the target has been set to administer polio drops to more than 45 million children.
The focal person said that complete eradication of polio in Pakistan is not possible without the support of the media, while the spread of misinformation has become extremely easy in today’s era, posing challenges to the polio campaign. She said that more than 400,000 polio workers will take part in the campaign and will go door to door to vaccinate children.
She informed that so far in 2025, 31 polio cases have been reported, out of which 17 cases were reported from southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She said that the polio virus is present in Karachi and efforts are underway for its eradication, while no polio case has been reported in Balochistan during the past 15 months. Similarly, a significant decline in the presence of the virus has been observed in environmental samples in Lahore.
The focal person said that complete monitoring for polio eradication is being carried out from the Prime Minister’s Office and that chief secretaries of all provinces are holding meetings regarding the anti polio campaign before February 2. She added that persuading families refusing polio drops is the need of the hour so that Pakistan can be made a polio free country.
