Imran Zakir
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah inaugurated the national anti-polio campaign to be continued from April 13 to 19, 2026, by administering polio drops to children at Government Boys Secondary School Zamzama , Defence phase -V, Karachi.. On this occasion, Minister for Education Syed Sardar Shah, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Commissioner Karachi Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Health Tahir Sangi,Secretary Education ,Zahid Abbasi , EOC (Sindh) Dr. Shehryar Gul, IG Sindh Javed Alam Odho and Additional IG Karachi Azad Khan , UNICEF Team Lead (Sindh), Dr. Azeem, Aziz Memon (Rotary International) and other dignitaries were also present. The Chief Minister visited the classrooms and administered the drops himself to the children and said that during the campaign, 16 million children will be given polio drops while 9.4 million children will be provided with vitamin A. 83 thousand trained frontline workers will go door to door to provide services, while more than 24 thousand security personnel, including 2,400 lady police personnel will be assigned to protect the teams. He said that these measures are a manifestation of the commitment to protect children and staff. According to Murad Ali Shah, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two polio-affected countries in the world. 74 cases were reported in 2024 and 31 last year, while in Sindh, 80% of environmental samples were positive during 2025 and 9 children were affected. However, there has been significant improvement this year and the rate has reduced to 24%, while one case was reported from Sujawal district. He said that continuous vaccination campaigns and mass awareness are the only solution to eradicate polio. The polio vaccine is safe, effective and certified by the World Health Organization. The Chief Minister appealed to parents, school administration, media, scholars and civil society to cooperate fully so that no child is missed to avail the vaccine. He also reiterated the commitment that the campaigns will continue until the complete eradication of polio and requested the media to keep polio awareness among their priorities so that this deadly disease can be eradicated forever. Responding a Media personnel questions during Question and Answer session regarding repeatedly starting Anti Polio Campaigns C.M Sindh Said that the Pakistan’s Polio Program was gone down in 2018 as a result of Change in Political leadership but now we are constantly focussing the Polio Program to completely eradicate the Polio.
