ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday launched its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign of 2025, aiming to immunise 45.5 million children under the age of five in a renewed push to curb the spread of the virus, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
The week-long campaign will continue until December 21 and involves more than 400,000 frontline workers deployed across the country, according to the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC). Punjab accounts for the largest share, with over 23 million children targeted, followed by Sindh with more than 16 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with over 7.2 million, and Balochistan with more than 2.6 million children. In Islamabad, the drive aims to vaccinate over 400,000 children.
Sindh CM @MuradAliShahPPP inaugurated polio eradication campaign (Dec 15–21) by administering polio drops to children at CMS School. Over10.6 million children will be vaccinated across 30 distt & 1,345 UC, with 80,000+ frontline workers & 21,000 cops deployed. pic.twitter.com/KXp0RU6B9T
— Sindh Chief Minister House (@SindhCMHouse) December 15, 2025
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, where polio is still endemic. So far this year, 30 polio cases have been reported nationwide, with KP recording the highest number at 19 cases. Health authorities have repeatedly stressed that sustained vaccination campaigns are critical to interrupting transmission and preventing new infections.
In Sindh, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah formally inaugurated the campaign in Karachi by administering polio drops to children. According to the Sindh CM House, more than 10.6 million children will be vaccinated across 30 districts and 1,345 union councils in the province, with over 80,000 frontline workers supported by around 21,000 police personnel to ensure security and smooth operations.
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Addressing the inauguration ceremony, the chief minister urged parents, community leaders and social influencers to cooperate fully with polio teams. He noted a surge in cases over the past two to three years and said Sindh had recorded nine cases in 2025. Mr Shah also recalled the efforts of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto toward polio eradication, noting that she had publicly vaccinated her daughter, Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, to build trust in the campaign.
As #Pakistan enters the final polio vaccination campaign of 2025 from the 15th–21st Dec, I urge parents, communities, & leaders to ensure every child under 5 is vaccinated. This mission, launched under Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, must be completed together 🇵🇰💧
— Aseefa B Zardari (@AseefaBZ) December 15, 2025
Separately, Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, now a member of the National Assembly, appealed to parents and communities to ensure that no child was missed during the final campaign of the year. She said the mission to eradicate polio, initiated under Benazir Bhutto, required collective effort and commitment.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Health officials emphasise that repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine during every campaign, along with completion of routine immunisation schedules, remain the only effective means of protection for children.
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