Islamabad: Pakistan has launched a new sub national polio vaccination campaign targeting more than 31 million children under five across 115 high risk districts.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal formally inaugurated the campaign in Islamabad on Friday by administering polio drops to children. The week long campaign will run from September 21 to 27, with vaccination teams visiting households across the targeted districts.
More than 273000 frontline workers have been mobilised for the campaign, which covers parts of Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. The campaign is also being synchronised with vaccination activities in Afghanistan to help reduce cross border transmission of the virus.
The campaign comes as Pakistan continues to report a decline in polio cases but remains at risk of continued transmission. Four wild poliovirus cases have been confirmed in the country in 2026, according to the government, with three reported in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Sindh. Environmental surveillance has also continued to detect the virus in several areas.
Officials have identified southern KP as one of the most challenging areas because of security related access constraints. Other areas with continued environmental detections include parts of Karachi and Quetta, according to the National Task Force on Polio Eradication.
Pakistan has made substantial progress against polio, reducing reported cases from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025 and four so far this year. However, health officials say repeated vaccination remains necessary while the virus continues to circulate.
The Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative has urged parents and caregivers to allow vaccination teams to administer oral polio vaccine to every eligible child, even if the child has received drops during previous campaigns.
