ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hosted this week – from July 1-3 – a high-level delegation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), reaffirming the country’s full commitment to protect millions of children by ending the global and regional threat of paralytic polio.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal and Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, held meetings with the delegation in Islamabad. The visitors also met with the chief minister and chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as with the army’s focal point for polio eradication, Engineer-in-Chief Lieutenant General Kashif Nazir.
The delegation was led by Dr Chris Elias, POB Chair and President of Global Development at the Gates Foundation, and included WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr Hanan Balkhy, UNICEF South Asia Regional Director, Sanjay Wijesekera, International Polio Plus Committee’s Chair, Mike McGovern, Rotary Foundation’s Trustee and National Polio Plus Committee’s Chair, Aziz Memon, and KS Relief Senior Adviser, Dr Ziad Memish.
In his engagement with the delegation, the Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the POB and GPEI partners and donors for the continued support to Pakistan and reiterated that polio eradication is a top-most priority for his government.
“Pakistan has made significant progress against polio thanks to collaborative efforts of the provincial governments and the governments of Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and law-enforcement agencies. Despite all difficulties and challenges, the government, with the support of international, provincial, and local teams will soon achieve the goal of a polio-free Pakistan,” he said.
Prime Minister Sharif also chaired a critical meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication with the delegation in attendance, which brought together chief ministers, chief secretaries from the provinces, as well as AJK and GB, representatives of the Polio Programme and various government departments. The objective: strategizing and further intensifying polio eradication efforts across the country.
Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal hosted the delegation at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and highlighted how enhanced coordination between the provinces and full government oversight is being leveraged to make gains against the ongoing polio resurgence.
“Every resource allocated for polio eradication is being used judiciously and transparently. We are sparing no effort to overcome the operational, security, and social challenges that persist,” he said.
For her part, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq underscored that unprecedented levels of political commitment and government oversight have reinvigorated all polio eradication activities over the past year, facilitating the implementation of four large-scale and high-quality harmonized campaigns since December, including three successive national campaigns so far this year that have protected over 45 million from paralytic polio.
“As we prepare for the final sprint to zero polio, our next wave of interventions will focus on maintaining high-quality polio campaigns, streamlining campaign operations, adapting localized strategies in high-risk areas, strengthening polio and EPI collaboration, and enhancing accountability mechanisms to ensure higher performance in every vaccination round,” she added.
The POB is the highest decision-making and oversight body of the GPEI – the largest international public health initiative aiming to end polio globally. This was the first visit of a high-level GPEI delegation to Pakistan this year.
The focus was to appreciate the Government’s strong commitment to polio eradication and engage with the national, provincial and security leadership to intensify all efforts to overcome remaining challenges towards achieving a polio-free Pakistan and a polio-free word.
The delegation also engaged in an in-depth session with the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI).
The discussion, led by the newly-appointed FDI Director General Dr Sofia Yunus from EPI’s side and Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq on the Polio Programme side, focused on enhancing collaboration between the Polio Eradication Initiative and FDI’s Expanded Programme on Immunization to jointly optimize the use of shared resources, streamline operational frameworks, and address systemic challenges that impede comprehensive vaccine delivery.
The delegation reaffirmed the importance for both vaccination programmes to effectively complement each other through integrated approaches to protect children against preventable diseases, while maintaining a strong focus on eradicating polio.
The delegation also participated in a roundtable with female frontline health workers and community mobilizers to hear first-hand their challenges and explore ways to better support their efforts, while praising their dedication despite working in tough and complex situations.
The delegation members lauded the Government for its reinvigorated leadership to oversee the Polio Programme. They also highlighted the critical need to maintain momentum against polio through continued high-quality vaccination campaigns and surveillance, improved access to all children, effective cross-border coordination, strengthened essential immunization and integrated service delivery.
The delegation also advocated for continued global collaboration and sustained efforts to engage communities and health workers in the fight, which remains critical to achieving success against polio.
Before arriving in Pakistan, the delegation also visited Afghanistan. The two countries remain the only hotspots of wild polio in the world and have been fighting a polio resurgence since 2024. So far, this year, Pakistan has reported 14 polio cases, while Afghanistan has reported 2.
The visit came on the heels of the meeting of the Technical Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (TAG) held last week in Islamabad. The TAG, an independent body of global and national polio eradication experts, conducted a detailed assessment of Pakistan’s progress in polio eradication efforts and provided strategic recommendations to the Polio Programme to improve operations and activities.
