Pakistan kicked off a nationwide anti-polio campaign on Monday, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five as part of efforts to eliminate the crippling disease—one of the last remaining in the world.
Pakistan on Monday launched its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, seeking to curb the spread of the virus that remains endemic in the country and neighboring Afghanistan.
Health Minister Mustafa Kamal officially inaugurated the week-long campaign at a ceremony in the capital Islamabad, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.
More than 45 million children under five are expected to receive the polio vaccine during the drive, which comes amid rising concerns after the virus was detected in 50 districts across the country.
“This is a critical moment in our fight against polio,” Kamal said at the ceremony. “I urge all parents to ensure their children receive the vaccine and are protected from this life-altering disease.”
Thousands of security personnel have been deployed nationwide to protect vaccination teams, who have frequently come under attack—especially in remote and restive regions. Since December 2012, nearly 150 people involved in polio campaigns have been killed across the country, according to government data.
Militant groups, particularly in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have long targeted anti-polio efforts, spreading misinformation that the campaigns are part of a Western or anti-Muslim conspiracy. Many vaccinators, often women, have been threatened or killed while trying to administer doses to children.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where polio is still classified as endemic. In 2024, Pakistan reported 74 cases of polio. So far in 2025, 10 cases have been confirmed.
Despite significant progress over the past decade, health authorities stress that continued vaccination drives and public cooperation are essential to fully eradicate the disease.v
Flights out of Bangladesh's main airport were delayed or diverted on Saturday after a major fire broke out in the cargo terminal, officials said....
Repair work has started on damaged off-site power lines to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following a four-week outage, IAEA Director Ge...
Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold peace talks in Doha on Saturday, both sides said, after the South Asia neighbours extended a ceasefire following a ...
Britain's Prince Andrew said on Friday he would give up using his title of Duke of York following years of criticism about his behaviour and connectio...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for October 18th, covering the latest developments you need to know....
Flights out of Bangladesh's main airport were delayed or diverted on Saturday after a major fire broke out in the cargo terminal, officials said.
Repair work has started on damaged off-site power lines to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following a four-week outage, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Saturday.
Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold peace talks in Doha on Saturday, both sides said, after the South Asia neighbours extended a ceasefire following a week of fierce border clashes.
Britain's Prince Andrew said on Friday he would give up using his title of Duke of York following years of criticism about his behaviour and connections to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is facing its first lawsuits in the United Kingdom over claims that its talc-based products cause cancer, as it continues to battle tens of thousands of similar cases in the United States.
The World Health Organization on Monday issued a health advisory warning about three contaminated cough syrups identified in India, urging authorities to report any detection of these medicines in their countries to the health agency.
Around 6,000 students in Malaysia have been infected with influenza and some schools have been closed for the safety of children and staff, an education ministry official said.
Indian police have arrested the owner of Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the cough syrup company linked to the deaths of at least 19 children in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, a senior police officer told Reuters on Thursday.
More than 200 health facilities in war-hit eastern Congo have run out of medicines due to widespread looting and supply chain disruptions during fighting this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment