ISLAMABAD - The first Sub-National Immunization Days (SNIDs) Polio campaign of the year 2022 reached more than 22.4 million children under the age of five. 

According to official sources, the campaign was launched on January 24, covering 70 districts and on January 17  in six high-risk districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, respectively. 

The sources added that more than 150,000 trained and highly dedicated polio workers were engaged in the vaccination drive to inoculate the targeted children at their doorsteps.

Dr Shahzad Baig, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre, Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI), expressed his satisfaction over the successful conclusion of the immunization campaign.

“Pakistan has made enormous progress over the past year.  Although we have only seen one case, which is a great result, we still need to further intensify our efforts for stopping the circulation of the virus, which we continue to find in the environment,” Dr Baig said while acknowledging the federal and provincial governments’ leadership, frontline workers, parents, and caregivers, for playing an instrumental role in vaccinating eligible children during the campaign.

He said the next nationwide polio campaign was planned to launch on February 28 across the country, while KP would start drives in the selected districts on February 21. 

The repeated polio vaccination campaigns were imperative for building immunity among children and preventing possible death or lifelong paralysis. 

            The ongoing campaigns, he added, were also critically important if Pakistan were to rid itself of the virus and join the rest of the world in being polio-free.

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