Around 300,000 children missed in Pakistan’s second nationwide polio campaign

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year fell short of its vaccination target by about 300,000 children, according to data released by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Monday.

The week-long drive had aimed to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five across the country. The NEOC said that more than 44.7 million children were ultimately administered polio drops during the campaign.

According to the provincial breakdown shared by the NEOC, more than 23 million children were vaccinated in Punjab, over 10.4 million in Sindh, more than 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 2.6 million in Balochistan.

The figures for other regions showed that more than 441,000 children were vaccinated in Islamabad, over 292,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and around 717,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The NEOC said support and cooperation from parents and communities were an important factor in the campaign’s outcome.

Expert says lower number of missed children is significant

Speaking to Dawn, a polio expert who requested anonymity said the number of children left out of the campaign was not unexpected, noting that some children were missed because they were travelling while others were not vaccinated due to refusals. "If accurate data has been provided, I believe that the latest campaign is an achievement; usually, polio drives miss 800,000 to 1m children during each nationwide campaign," they said.

The expert also stressed the importance of continuing immunisation efforts, saying the high transmission season was approaching and would increase the risk of infection.

The poliovirus becomes more active as temperatures rise from May to September. From the end of September until the beginning of May, the virus is described as less active or dormant, a period referred to as the low transmission season.

Polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Pakistan remains one of the last two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside Afghanistan.

During the first nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, held in February, more than 44.3 million children were vaccinated across the country. Around one million children were missed in that drive, while 53,000 refusals were reported.

Pakistan recorded 31 polio cases in 2025. So far in 2026, one case has been confirmed from Sujawal in Sindh.

The latest campaign figures indicate an improvement over the first drive of the year in terms of the number of children reached, even as health authorities continue efforts to close immunity gaps ahead of the higher-risk transmission period.