A one-week national anti-polio drive will begin on 2 November in 97 selected districts across Pakistan, with door-to-door teams set to give polio drops to about 23.9 million children under the age of five, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), the federal body that coordinates polio eradication work.
The campaign is planned as a home-based drive: polio workers will visit households rather than waiting for families to come to fixed centres. Officials present the effort as part of a wider push to stop the poliovirus from circulating among young children.
How many children are to be covered
Province-wise targets shared by the NEOC show the largest share in Punjab, where almost 9.278 million children in 13 selected districts are to receive drops. In Sindh, almost 6.883 million children in 20 selected districts are to be covered.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4.808 million children in 27 selected districts are on the plan, while 2.217 million children are to be reached in 31 selected districts of Balochistan. Together, these four provinces make up the bulk of the 23.9 million children named for the drive.
Coverage outside the four provinces
Beyond the provinces, more than 447,000 children in Islamabad are to be administered polio drops. In Gilgit-Baltistan, about 153,000 children in three selected districts are included. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, more than 183,000 children in two selected districts are to receive drops during the same one-week window.
What parents are being asked to do
The NEOC has described a polio-free future for children as a shared responsibility and has urged parents to fully cooperate with polio teams. In practical terms, that means allowing vaccinators into the home, confirming the ages of children under five, and ensuring each eligible child receives the oral drops when the team visits.
No further public schedule beyond the 2 November start and the one-week length was detailed in the announcement. Families in the 97 selected districts should expect teams during that period and can ask workers which children in the household are due for drops.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Do November se aik haftay ki qomi anti-polio muhim shuru ho rahi hai. Is mein paanch saal se kam umar ke bachon ko ghar ghar ja kar polio ke qatre diye jayenge. Taqreeban 97 muntakhib azlaa mein yeh kaam hoga. Waldein se darkhwast hai ke polio teams ka sath dein taake bachay mehfooz rahen.
