At least 19.7 million children under the age of five were vaccinated during a one-week anti-political campaign held from September 1 to 7 in several districts, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).
More than 4 million children were covered in Punjab, 8.7 million in the Sindh, 2.2 million in Balutchistan and 4 million in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
In Islamabad, nearly 479,000 children received drops of polio, while 112,000 were vaccinated in Gilgit-Baltistan and 164,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Polio campaign in Torgarh [Source: EOC]
Earlier, environmental surveillance had recently detected wild poliovirus in Hyderabad enuage sewer samples, marking the sixth positive detection this year, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Read: Polio eradication drive to start on September 1
The EOC said that parents, civil administrations, law enforcement organizations and health workers played a key role in the success of the campaign, adding that polio teams and security personnel were the “heroes of the nation”.
A follow-up campaign will start on September 15 at South Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bajaur and Upper Dir, targeting 1.6 million children, added the center.
The district authorities warned that during the current rainy season, the densely populated areas remain more at risk, stressing the importance of ensuring that no child is not vaccinated.
Find out more: Three-day anti-poolio drive launched
Parents were invited to ensure that each child under the age of five receives polio falls in each campaign. Citizens can contact the assistance line 1166 or send a WhatsApp message to 0346-77776546 for more information.
The EOC, operating within the framework of the Ministry of National Health Services, coordinates the Eradication Program for Polio of Pakistan with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the global partners.
