Polio Vaccination campaign launches simultaneously in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Recently, Pakistani media reported multiple cases of polio or infantile paralysis in children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the coming month, both countries will launch a children’s polio vaccination campaign along their shared border.

Today, Dawn Pakistan published a report stating that Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio is still endemic.

In a press conference on Friday, Anam-ul-Haq Qureshi, coordinator of the Emergency Operations Center Balochistan, announced the launch of a five-day nationwide vaccination campaign on September 9th.

He added that this campaign will cover 36 districts in Balochistan, while simultaneously a polio vaccination campaign will be held in Afghanistan.

This comes as a Pakistani official recently reported the sixteenth case of polio in Sindh province, Pakistan, in 2024.

The official stated to the media that this new case of polio is the sixteenth case of infantile paralysis in the year 2024.

According to reports from Pakistani health authorities, this new case of polio was observed in a 29-month-old child in the Hyderabad region.

Based on statistics previously released by Pakistani media outlets, polio has been reported in 26 areas in Pakistan so far, including 12 cases in Balochistan, three in Sindh, and one in Punjab.

The coordinated vaccination efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan aim to combat the persistent challenge of polio and ensure the health of children in the region.

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