National anti‑polio campaign launches Nov. 2 across 97 districts

A one‑week nationwide anti‑polio drive will begin on 2 November, covering 97 districts, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC). The operation aims to give oral polio vaccine drops to about 23.9 million children under five, with health workers visiting homes door‑to‑door.

In Punjab, the campaign will reach roughly 9.278 million children in 13 selected districts. Sindh will see the drops administered to about 6.883 million youngsters across 20 districts. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4.808 million children in 27 districts are targeted, while Balochistan’s effort will cover 2.217 million children in 31 districts. The federal capital, Islamabad, will have more than 447,000 children vaccinated, and 153,000 children in three districts of Gilgit‑Baltistan will also receive the drops. Additionally, over 183,000 children in two districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir are slated to be immunised.

The NEOC stressed that protecting children from polio is a collective duty and urged parents to cooperate fully with vaccination teams to eliminate the disease.