Pakistan’s latest sub-national polio vaccination campaign, running from November 2 to 8, aims to protect nearly 24 million children in 97 high-risk districts, with more than 200,000 frontline workers mobilised. The drive is the fifth large-scale campaign of 2026 and is being run simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan with cross-border coordination.
The campaign gained urgency after the National Emergency Operations Centre confirmed the country’s eighth polio case of 2026, a 13-month-old girl from Union Council Janbaz-B in Bara tehsil of Khyber district. Six of this year’s eight cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh, while sewage samples from the Peshawar-Khyber corridor continue to test positive.
Parents have been urged to ensure every child under five receives the oral polio vaccine in every campaign and completes routine immunisation. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic, and health officials say no child is safe until vaccination coverage is consistent across all high-risk areas.
Sources: Dawn, The Express Tribune. Written in our own words for information only.