Islamabad: A one-day campaign to administer polio drops to around 754,000 children was launched on Sunday in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province under comprehensive security cover, officials said.
The province, where Taliban oppose vaccinations and health workers handling immunisation work have suffered attacks, recorded 25 of the 147 countrywide polio cases in 2014 so far.
In August, 127,000 children were vaccinated in the Khyber Agency tribal area of the province, which borders Afghanistan.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has planned 15 vaccination campaigns from October 2014 to June 2015, with a focus on high-risk districts.
Pakistan faces mounting pressure from international health agencies to wipe out the crippling virus from the country.
The federal government has approved a Rs33 billion (Dh1.1 million) emergency plan for polio eradication in the country.
