KARACHI: A special sub-national anti-polio campaign was launched across 20 districts of Sindh on Monday, while the ongoing booster dose campaign in selected high-risk union councils of Karachi resumed after a scheduled one-day break, officials said.
According to the Sindh Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for Polio Eradication, the campaign is being conducted in Badin, Ghotki, Dadu, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Jamshoro, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Khairpur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Shikarpur, Sujawal, Sukkur, Tharparkar, Thatta, Tando Muhammad Khan and Umerkot. The drive is being fully implemented in 15 districts, while selected high-risk areas are being covered in Dadu, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Tharparkar and Umerkot.
Officials said more than 5.8 million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops during the campaign across 1,125 union councils. Over 17,000 frontline workers, supported by more than 15,000 security personnel, have been deployed to ensure smooth implementation. The campaign in Hyderabad will continue for seven days, while the drive in other districts will conclude in five days.
Meanwhile, Karachi’s booster dose campaign is continuing in 89 union councils across the city’s eight districts, where over 1.1 million children have already been vaccinated against a target of 1.8 million. The campaign will continue until May 24.
The Sindh EOC said polio teams are administering booster doses at schools, seminaries, hospitals, community sites and remote localities, with special focus on street children and underserved populations to ensure wider immunization coverage.
Officials said Karachi remains vulnerable to poliovirus transmission due to its dense population, high mobility and presence of high-risk areas, making additional immunity measures essential. They said the booster dose initiative is recommended by the World Health Organization and has also been implemented in Lahore, with support from pediatric experts.
The EOC urged parents to reject vaccine-related misinformation and cooperate with vaccination teams, saying community support remains critical in Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate polio.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two polio-endemic countries in the world.
