PESHAWAR:
More than 108,000 under-immunized children have been vaccinated across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa through effective planning and coordinated implementation by the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) and its district teams, with over 90% coverage in high-risk urban areas and significantly reduced immunity gaps, an official said on Thursday.
KP EPI Director Dr Mehtab Khan said the vaccination roadmap, launched under the leadership of the Chief Secretary, had yielded strong and measurable results in its first six months.
He said the initiative marked a major improvement in public health service delivery by strengthening accountability, modernizing service delivery systems and accelerating progress towards universal immunization coverage, adding that it reflected the government’s strong commitment to protecting children’s health.
One of the major achievements of the roadmap was the targeted vaccination campaign conducted in Peshawar in November 2025. Through close coordination between provincial and district EPI teams, the campaign successfully reached under-immunized children in high-risk urban localities and helped bridge critical immune gaps.
Khan said routine immunization services had also improved significantly, adding that the Health Ministry had also improved vaccinator monitoring systems to track individual performance, thereby improving accountability and operational efficiency.
As a result, he said community coverage increased from 40% annually to almost 70% by December 2025, expanding access to life-saving vaccines across the province.
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Along with improving services, the government has developed physical infrastructure and human resources. Ten pre-fabricated EPI centers were established in underserved union councils, providing vaccination services to a population of over 0.3 million.
A province-wide catch-up activity was also carried out to vaccinate children up to the age of five, further narrowing the immune gap. Vaccination services have been strengthened in hard-to-reach and geographically difficult areas. In addition, 150 vaccinators have been deployed across the province to improve awareness, community engagement and accessibility of services.
Integrated service delivery has been strengthened in security sensitive areas to ensure continuity of essential health services. These achievements represent a major step forward in strengthening the provincial immunization system and protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
