The nationwide anti-polio campaign in October failed to meet its targets, sources reported. The campaign, which ran from October 13 to 19, aimed to vaccinate over 45 million children. However, more than 1 million children missed out on the vaccine. Of these, 721,296 children were unavailable for vaccination, while 53,621 cases of vaccine refusal were reported.
Despite efforts, the campaign achieved only 98% of its target. Some districts struggled with lower coverage. Fifteen districts recorded polio vaccination rates below 95%. Thirty-one districts achieved coverage between 95% and 97%, while 113 districts surpassed 98% coverage. The highest coverage of 101% was seen in Gilgit-Baltistan.
In terms of regional performance, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vaccinated 94% of children, while Punjab and Sindh both achieved 99% coverage. Azad Kashmir and Islamabad also reached 99%, and Balochistan saw 97% coverage. Despite this, significant numbers of children remained unvaccinated in some provinces.
In Punjab, over 390,000 children missed the vaccine, while in Sindh, 235,000 children were left out. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had over 400,000 unvaccinated children, Balochistan over 60,000, and Islamabad over 4,000. Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir also had small but notable gaps in coverage.
Polio remains a serious threat as it is highly infectious and can cause permanent paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). The continued detection of polio cases indicates that children in areas with low vaccine acceptance are still at risk.
