Third national anti-polio campaign of 2025 kicks off

ISLAMABAD: Third National Polio Campaign of 2025 has been officially launched, the National Emergency Operation Center (NCOC) announced on Sunday.

Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq inaugurated the campaign by administering polio drops to children. The national polio campaign will continue from May 26 to June 1, NCOC said, adding that the target for the current campaign is to administer polio drops to over 45 million children.

The campaign aims to achieve the goal of complete eradication of polio virus from Pakistan, NCOC statement added.

Polio campaign is being held simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Pakistan giving placing special focus on border areas and nomadic populations.

Before this, a seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign was carried out during February 3 to 9, and April 20 to 27. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged parents to cooperate with anti-polio field teams to ensure their children’s vaccination and help completely eradicate the poliovirus from the country.

However, despite repeated anti-polio campaigns, Pakistan continues to suffer from the persistence of poliovirus. Just a month ago a new polio case surfaced in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as per the data shared by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

This was the third polio case reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the eighth in Pakistan so far this year.

Also read: New polio case surfaces in Bannu