Mustafa Kamal Proposes Unique Initiative to Promote Polio Campaign

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Health, Mustafa Kamal, has said that parents must act responsibly to ensure the complete eradication of polio from Pakistan.

Speaking at the launch ceremony of the national polio eradication campaign, he announced that the countrywide drive will be held from December 15 to 21. He urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers and ensure that children under the age of five receive the essential two drops of the polio vaccine to protect them from the virus.

Mustafa Kamal appealed to religious scholars to play their role in supporting the campaign. He also introduced a unique proposal, encouraging Members of Parliament to administer polio drops to their own children or relatives, record a 30-second video, and share it to promote public confidence in the vaccine.

Highlighting the progress made, the minister said that last year Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases, while this year the number has dropped to only 30, with 19 of them reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone. He stressed that ensuring a secure future for children is both a national and religious duty.

He added that a total of 55.4 million children will be vaccinated during the campaign. Despite significant progress, he warned that polio virus still exists in more than half of Pakistan, particularly in Peshawar, Karachi, and Lahore.

Mustafa Kamal reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to eliminating the virus nationwide. However, he noted that due to security concerns, around 200,000 children could not be vaccinated earlier this year.