Karachi: Nearly 237,000 children in Sindh were left without polio vaccination during the province’s most recent immunisation drive, raising fresh concerns about gaps in coverage in a province that remains critical to Pakistan’s fight to eradicate the virus.
According to an official report presented to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, more than 237,000 children, around 2.6 percent of the total target population, missed out on polio drops despite the completion of the latest campaign across the province. The figures underline the persistent challenge of reaching every child, even as authorities report high overall coverage rates.
The report said administrative coverage for the campaign stood at 100 percent across Sindh, while door-to-door coverage was recorded at 99 percent and recall coverage at 94 percent. Health officials briefed the chief minister that while operational targets were largely met on paper, thousands of children were still not vaccinated due to refusals, locked houses, absence of families during visits, and access challenges in certain areas.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while reviewing the performance of the campaign, said that the complete eradication of polio was essential for securing a healthy future for children in Sindh and across Pakistan. He stressed that no compromise would be made on child health and directed officials to ensure immediate outreach to children who were missed during the campaign.
Murad Ali Shah ordered strict and urgent measures to improve full vaccination coverage and warned district administrations to improve performance, saying negligence in the fight against polio would not be tolerated.
Breakdowns shared with the chief minister showed significant variation across divisions, with Karachi once again emerging as a key area of concern. In Karachi Division, administrative coverage was reported at 101 percent, while door-to-door coverage stood at 97 percent.
The proportion of missed children in the metropolis was recorded at 4.6 percent, higher than the provincial average, reflecting the operational challenges of vaccinating children in densely populated urban settlements, high-mobility communities, and informal housing clusters.
In Hyderabad Division, both administrative and door-to-door coverage were reported at 99 percent, with the proportion of missed children at 2.4 percent. Mirpurkhas Division recorded 101 percent administrative coverage and 100 percent door-to-door coverage, with 2 percent of children still missed.
In Larkana and Sukkur divisions, administrative and door-to-door coverage stood at 99 percent, with missed children recorded at 2.2 percent and 2 percent respectively. Shaheed Benazirabad Division reported both administrative and door-to-door coverage at 100 percent, with 1 percent of children remaining unvaccinated.
Health officials acknowledge that even small percentages translate into tens of thousands of unprotected children in a province with a large and mobile population. Pakistan remains one of the few countries in the world where polio transmission has not yet been interrupted, and Sindh, particularly Karachi, has historically been a reservoir for the virus due to population movement, low routine immunisation in some pockets, and periodic refusals linked to misinformation and mistrust.
The chief minister decided that provincial-level performance would be reviewed on a continuous basis to close remaining gaps in coverage and ensure better accountability at district and union council levels. He directed health authorities to strengthen follow-up mechanisms for missed children, improve micro-planning for high-risk and mobile populations, and enhance coordination with district administrations to ensure vaccinators can access hard-to-reach localities.
Appealing directly to parents, Syed Murad Ali Shah urged families to cooperate with vaccination teams during every polio campaign, stressing that repeated doses are necessary to build immunity and protect children from lifelong paralysis.
He said protecting children from preventable disability was a shared responsibility of the state, health workers and communities, and that Sindh could not afford complacency as long as even a single child remained unvaccinated.
The latest figures highlight that while administrative indicators suggest near-universal coverage, operational realities on the ground continue to leave significant numbers of children unprotected, underscoring the need for sustained political commitment, community engagement and stronger follow-up in Pakistan’s long-running drive to eradicate polio.
Ends