A major step towards a polio-free Pakistan, National Immunization Days campaign begins across the country

The National Immunization Days (NIDs) campaign has begun in Pakistan, during which more than 23.3 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated against polio.

The door-to-door campaign will continue in Lahore until October 19, while in other districts the campaign will be run for four days. More than 200,000 polio workers and supervisors are working across the country to ensure that no child is left out of the vaccination drive.

Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Coordinator Adeel Tazar, chairing a meeting, directed the administrations of all districts to make operations in flood-affected and security-sensitive areas effective. He said that continuity should be maintained in field teams and unnecessary rotations should be avoided so that the quality of the campaign is not affected.

Adeel Taswar clarified that no tampering with the data will be tolerated. He directed the district health officers to play an active role in field monitoring so that timely resolution of issues can be ensured.

He further said that special attention should be paid to those areas where there is refusal or doubts from parents about vaccination. He said that a community-centered approach should be adopted in which religious leaders, teachers, local elders and other trusted figures should be involved to restore public trust.