ISLAMABAD: While around a million children were missed during the year’s first nationwide polio campaign, Karachi stood out among the cities with most number of refusal cases.
A total of 53,000 refusals were reported from across the country, with 58 per cent reported from Karachi alone, during the vaccination drive, which concluded on Feb 5 in most cities but ran till Feb 8 in Sindh.
During the campaign, polio drops were administered to more than 44.3m children, marking a significant milestone in Pakistan’s continued efforts to eradicate polio.
While the data shows that the polio programme achieved overall household coverage of 98pc, with 2pc children missed, the number of missed children is still huge and worrisome given Pakistan’s population.
Overall, 0.95m children were reported as missed during the campaign. A large proportion of these (0.67m) were missed as children were not home when polio workers visited.
During the campaign, 2.5 million guest children were vaccinated, likely covering a substantial share of children recorded as not being available at home.
A total of “233,000 children were reported as leftovers due to security constraints, community boycotts, and snow-bound areas,” an official of the programme said, wishing not to be quoted. Of them 184,000 were from KP, including 113,000 from south KP. In Balochistan, the polio eradication campaign was postponed in Mastung, Gwadar, Chagai, and Awaran due to security reasons.
In AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, around 50,000 children remained unreachable due to snow and non-conduct of campaigns. However, 0.14pc of the total targeted children were reported as refusals, with 31,000 refusals from Karachi, forming the largest share, the official said.
In a statement, the National Emergency Operation Center (EOC) extended its sincere appreciation to all relevant stakeholders for their cooperation, commitment, and active participation in ensuring the successful implementation of the campaign.
Of the 44.3m children vaccinated across the country, more than 22.9m were vaccinated in Punjab, followed by over 10.5m in Sindh, 7.13m in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 2.36m in Balochistan, over 673,000 in AJK, over 261,000 in in GB and more than 455,000 in Islamabad.
Interestingly, the first nationwide polio campaign of 2026 was conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reflecting what the EOC described as strengthened cross-border coordination to interrupt poliovirus transmission and protect children in both countries.
Speaking to Dawn, Pakistan Polio Programme head Anwarul Haq said the positive development was the drop in number of reported polio cases last year. Pakistan reported 31 cases last year, compared with 74 in 2024, he said. “Moreover, in terms of poliovirus, Punjab is negative, Peshawar is negative, and Balochistan is also negative. We just need to focus more on some critical areas, namely Sindh and south KP,” he emphasised.
The Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio, Ayesha Raza Farooq, told Dawn that the post-campaign independent assessment was underway.
Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026.
