Polio drive reaches 91pc, focus shifts to missed children

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2026) The District Health Authority (DHA) Rawalpindi has completed a four-day anti-polio campaign, vaccinating 966,859 children under five and achieving 91 percent of the set target.

According to official data, the administrative target for the campaign was 1,057,756 children, while field teams managed to cover 97 per cent of the households identified in pre-campaign micro-plans.

As the drive enters its final phase, health teams have shifted focus to intensive “catch-up” activities to vaccinate 24,308 children who were missed during the initial days.

Dr. Waqar Ahmad, spokesman health authority said that on the fourth day alone, teams successfully traced and immunized 86 percent of children who were earlier unavailable.

Refusal cases remained minimal, with only 936 reported across the district, mostly on medical grounds, reflecting effective community engagement and support from local religious leaders.

The campaign also adopted a diversified outreach strategy, vaccinating over 102,000 children at schools and more than 56,000 at transit points, including bus terminals, markets and fixed health centres, he said.

In addition to polio vaccination, 768,863 children were administered Vitamin A supplements to enhance immunity.

Dr. Waqar said that with zero positive environmental samples reported in Rawalpindi so far in the year, the ongoing campaign offered a crucial opportunity to sustain the district’s polio-free status.

He said frontline workers were now focusing on the remaining three per cent of missed households to ensure complete coverage and protection of all eligible children.