Around a million children missed during year’s first nationwide polio campaign; 53,000 refusals reported

Around a million children were missed and 53,000 refusals were reported during the year’s first nationwide polio campaign.

The largest share of refusals, i.e. 58 per cent, was reported from Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. The campaign concluded on February 5 in most cities, while the campaign ran till February 8 in Sindh.

During the campaign, polio drops were administered to more than 44.3 million children, marking a significant milestone in Pakistan’s continued efforts to eradicate polio.

While the data shows that the polio programme achieved overall household coverage of 98pc, with 2pc children missed, the number of missed children is still huge and worrisome given Pakistan’s population.

Overall, 0.95m children were reported as missed during the campaign. A large proportion of these (0.67m) were missed because children were not available at home at the time of vaccination.

During the campaign, 2.5 million guest children were vaccinated, likely covering a substantial share of children recorded as not being available at home.

“233,000 children were reported as leftovers due to security constraints, community boycotts, and snow-bound areas,” an official of the programme said, wishing not to be quoted.

“Of the total leftovers, 184,000 were from KP, including 113,000 from south KP. In AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, around 50,000 children remained unreachable due to snow-bound areas and non-conduct of campaigns.”

“In Balochistan, the polio eradication campaign was postponed in Mastung, Gwadar, Chagai, and Awaran due to security reasons. 0.14pc of the total targeted children were reported as refusals, with 31,000 refusals from Karachi, forming the largest share,” the official added.

“The National Emergency Operation Center (EOC) extends its sincere appreciation to all relevant stakeholders for their cooperation, commitment, and active participation in ensuring the successful implementation of the campaign,” said a statement issued by the EOC.

The statement said that in Punjab, more than 22.9m children were vaccinated. In Sindh, over 10.5m children, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 7.13 million and in Balochistan, over 2.36m children were vaccinated.

In Islamabad, more than 455,000, in Gilgit-Baltistan, approximately 261,000, and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, over 673,000 children were administered the drops.

The EOC further noted that the first nationwide polio campaign of 2026 was conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reflecting strengthened cross-border coordination to interrupt poliovirus transmission and protect children in both countries.

“The Government of Pakistan reaffirmed its strong commitment to achieve a polio-free Pakistan through sustained immunisation efforts, community engagement, and regional collaboration,” the statement added.

Pakistan Polio Programme Head Anwarul Haq, while speaking to Dawn, said the positive development was that Pakistan reported fewer cases — 31 in 2025 compared with 74 in 2024.

“Moreover, in terms of poliovirus, Punjab is negative, Peshawar is negative, and Balochistan is also negative. We just need to focus more on some critical areas, namely Sindh and south KP,” he said.

Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio, Ayesha Raza Farooq, told Dawn that the post-campaign independent assessment was underway.

“It will take a week before results are compiled and the programme will share them with all the stakeholders,” she said.

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