Islamabad – Pakistani authorities have targeted 40 million children in the first nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year that began on Monday amid fears of a resurgence.
More than 250,000 health workers would be on the streets throughout the week to vaccinate children under the age of five, Pakistan’s health chief Zafar Mirza said.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers would guard health workers in regions where they are routinely attacked by Islamist militants, said Shaukat Yousafzai, information minister of the north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Showbiz and sports stars joined the government to rally parents’ support for the drive, since the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Pakistan that polio might become a epidemic again.
Pakistan reported 144 new cases last year, the highest number in half a decade, which prompted the WHO to warn that the progress made over the years to control polio had halted.