ISLAMABAD — On Monday, Pakistan launched its final nationwide polio vaccination initiative of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children amidst a rise in polio cases that has challenged efforts to eradicate the disease, as stated by officials.

As reported by the World Health Organization, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, with Pakistan recording 63 confirmed cases since the start of the year.

Ayesha Raza Farooq, the adviser to the Prime Minister on polio eradication, announced that the vaccination campaign is set to run until December 22. “As a mother, I urge everyone to welcome health workers into your homes,” she said, encouraging community participation in the effort.

Despite the ongoing risks posed by violence against medical teams overseeing the vaccination efforts, Pakistan continues to hold these campaigns. Some militants propagate the false notion that these vaccination efforts are a Western plot aimed at sterilizing children.

In response to threats, officials have deployed thousands of police to safeguard health workers, following intelligence that insurgents may target them. Unfortunately, violence erupted on Monday when gunmen attacked police escorting polio vaccination teams in Karak, located in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This assault resulted in the death of a police officer and injuries to a health worker, as reported by local police officer Ayaz Khan.

In a separate incident on the same day, a gunman on a motorcycle shot and injured a police officer tasked with protecting polio workers in the northwestern city of Bannu, according to local police chief Hamid Khan.

Responsibility for these attacks has not been claimed yet, but according to health officials, the violence has claimed the lives of over 200 polio workers and police since the 1990s.

This latest vaccination campaign was initiated one day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with healthcare personnel and reaffirmed the commitment to defeating polio in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Afghanistan has reported at least 23 confirmed polio cases in 2024, according to World Health Organization data.

In September, vaccination efforts in Afghanistan faced a significant setback when the Afghan Taliban abruptly halted a door-to-door campaign, jeopardizing progress in combating polio. Health experts warn that this infectious virus poses a serious risk, especially in unvaccinated populations, and could reverse years of advancements in eradication efforts.