Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed on Thursday that as a result of the dedicated nationwide anti-polio campaigns, there was no report on a single case of polio in the country since February 10.

The Prime Minister was chairman of the review of the eradication of polio and praised the efforts of relevant government institutions, international organizations and partners to make Pakistan poliofri.

He instructed the relevant authorities to ensure the attention and mobilization of society regarding the anti-polio campaign across the country.

“It must be ensured that each child under five is administered the polio vaccine during the anti-polio campaign from April 21,” he added.

He emphasized that alongside the campaign, nationwide routine immunization for protection against other dangerous diseases should also be fully ensured.

“Despite challenging conditions, the workers who participate in the Anti-Polio campaign, a front-line role in the fight against this disease,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said, adding that the whole nation, including itself, was proud of the hard-working polio workers.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister was informed of the upcoming anti-polio campaign from April 21 to April 27, with 4.5 million children administering the polio vaccine.

A total of 415,000 polio workers will participate in this nationwide campaign. The meeting was also informed that the prime minister’s instructions per Prime Minister, third party validation of the campaign will end from April 28 to April 30.

In addition, cold chain tracking of the anti-polio campaigns is monitored under a digital system.

Minister of National Health Syed Mustafa Kamal, Prime Minister’s Special Representative of Polio Ayesha Raza Farooq, Sindh-Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal, chief secretaries for all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, representatives of International Partners and other senior-related officials attended the meeting.

Two days ago, Kamal called on the public to reject baseless misunderstandings about the polio vaccine and said that while diseases such as cancer have treatment options, polio has no cure and can only be prevented through timely immunization, The news reported.

The minister noted that Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world with Afghanistan, where polio continues to circulate.

“We have reported six cases of polio so far this year. Many wastewater samples across different regions are still testing positive for poliovirus,” he said.

He emphasized that the upcoming antipolio drive, planned from April 21 to April 27, would vaccinate over 45 million children across the country. “More than 400,000 trained front lines will go door to door to manage oral polio drops. The government will secure their safety,” Kamal assures.

He rejected the common myth that polio vaccination has religious consequences or causing harm.

Kamal confirmed that this year’s campaign would be synchronized with Afghanistan’s efforts and maximizing the impact on both borders. “For the first time this year, Pakistan and Afghanistan begin and end the campaign together. This is a significant step.”