Pakistan Polio Campaign 2026: 300,000 Children Missed Despite Overall Success

Approximately 300,000 children were missed during Pakistan’s second nationwide polio immunization campaign in 2026, according to reports from health officials monitoring the effort. The campaign, conducted in February 2026 as part of the country’s ongoing eradication initiative, aimed to vaccinate over 40 million children under the age of five across all provinces and territories. Despite logistical planning and deployment of hundreds of thousands of vaccinators, significant gaps in coverage were identified in several high-risk districts, particularly in areas affected by insecurity, population displacement, and vaccine hesitancy.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, confirmed that while the campaign reached the majority of targeted children, persistent access challenges in regions such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and parts of Sindh contributed to the shortfall. Officials noted that mobile and nomadic populations, as well as children in urban slums with limited healthcare infrastructure, were disproportionately affected. In some cases, security concerns prevented vaccination teams from entering certain communities, while in others, parental refusal due to misinformation about the vaccine’s safety played a role.

Polio remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only two countries where wild poliovirus transmission has not been interrupted. The virus, which primarily affects children under five, can cause irreversible paralysis and, in severe cases, death. There is no cure for polio, but multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) provide lifelong immunity. Global eradication efforts have reduced polio cases by over 99% since 1988, but achieving zero transmission requires sustained high vaccination coverage in every community.

In response to the identified gaps, health authorities launched a series of follow-up immunization activities in March and April 2026, focusing on the districts where the highest numbers of children were missed. These mop-up campaigns employed intensified community engagement, including collaboration with local religious leaders, teachers, and community health workers to address vaccine hesitancy and improve access. Special transit-point vaccination teams were also deployed at railway stations, bus terminals, and border crossings to reach mobile populations.

According to data released by the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, the follow-up efforts successfully vaccinated an additional 220,000 of the initially missed children by mid-April 2026. However, approximately 80,000 children remained unvaccinated as of the latest reporting, with ongoing efforts concentrated in the most inaccessible areas. Health officials emphasized that each unvaccinated child represents a potential link in the chain of transmission, underscoring the importance of reaching every child to prevent resurgence.

Dr. Hamid Jafari, Director of Polio Eradication at WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, stated in a recent briefing that while Pakistan has made significant progress in reducing polio cases over the past decade, the persistence of missed children highlights the fragility of gains. “We are closer than ever to interrupting transmission, but we cannot afford to leave pockets of susceptibility,” he said. “The virus will find and exploit any gap in immunity. Our focus must remain on equity, access, and trust.”

Environmental surveillance continues to play a critical role in tracking the virus. Sewage sampling conducted in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar in early 2026 detected poliovirus in several samples, indicating ongoing transmission despite the absence of reported paralysis cases. This underscores the importance of maintaining high population immunity to stop silent spread. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative stresses that both acute flaccid paralysis surveillance and environmental monitoring are essential for verifying interruption of transmission.

Looking ahead, Pakistan plans to conduct two additional nationwide polio campaigns in 2026, with the third scheduled for May and the fourth for September. These efforts will incorporate lessons learned from the first two rounds, including improved micro-planning, real-time monitoring of vaccination teams via mobile technology, and targeted risk communication strategies. International partners have reaffirmed their commitment to providing technical, financial, and logistical support to ensure that no child is left behind.