Polio vaccination campaign to begin in Punjab from tomorrow

A province-wide anti-polio campaign is set to begin across Punjab from tomorrow, aiming to vaccinate all children under the age of five. The campaign will continue for seven days in Lahore, while in other districts it will run for four days.

Health authorities plan to protect more than 23.3 million children from polio, with over 200,000 workers and supervisors deployed in the field. Special experts have also been assigned to ensure the effective implementation of the campaign.

Officials said that there has been a significant decline in the presence of the polio virus in Punjab over the past six months. The detection rate in environmental samples has dropped to just 1 percent, compared to 26 percent in December 2025 and 56 percent in August 2025.

According to the head of the anti-polio program, all six testing sites in Lahore have recently been declared clear. In Rawalpindi, all environmental samples collected in 2026 have tested negative, while districts in South Punjab have reported zero presence of the virus.

Program official Adeel Tasawar said Punjab has achieved major success in the fight against polio, with a continuous decline in virus detection. He emphasized that efforts will continue until polio is completely eradicated.

He added that ensuring vaccine access for every child remains the top priority and that the negative test results across the province reflect strong collective efforts. He urged parents and communities to fully support the campaign by ensuring their children receive polio drops and by cooperating with frontline workers so that no child is left unvaccinated.