ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch a third nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign to immunize 45.4 million children under the age of five years, the Pakistani health ministry said on Monday.

The statement came after Health Minister Mustafa Kamal’s meeting with Dr. Chris Elias, president for global development at the Gates Foundation, to discuss Pakistan’s fight against the disease, according to the health ministry.

Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, along with the completion of the routine immunization schedule for all children are essential to ensure strong immunity against the disease.

Pakistan has reported seven polio cases so far this year and has conducted two major vaccination campaigns in the first half of 2025. Last year, the South Asian country had reported 74 cases of the virus.

“The fight against polio has required tremendous sacrifice from all stakeholders including law enforcement personnel who have rendered invaluable services,” Kamal was quoted as saying by the ministry.

“This mission will continue until we reach complete eradication.”

The minister underscored the ongoing close cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, including synchronized national immunization campaigns across both countries, as well as successful nationwide anti-polio campaigns carried out in February and April.

He shared that improved community engagement has led to a reduction in vaccine refusals among parents, expressing optimism that Pakistan is on track to achieve complete polio eradication by the end of 2025.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains an endemic.

Dr. Elias commended Pakistan for its sustained efforts and reaffirmed the Gates Foundation’s commitment to supporting the country’s journey toward a polio-free future.

“He expressed hope that the 2025 eradication target would be successfully achieved.” the health ministry said.

In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually. However, by 2018, the number had dropped to just eight. In 2023, six cases were reported, and only one case was recorded in 2021.

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been repeatedly undermined by vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage.

Militant groups have also frequently targeted polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them, often resulting in deadly attacks.

QUETTA: At least three people were killed and 11 others wounded after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in a border district in Pakistan southwestern Balochistan province, a government official said on Sunday.

The blast took place inside a market next to a security forces camp in Gulistan town of Killa Abdullah district, located close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The explosives were planted on a vehicle and were detonated at around 8:30pm, according to Killa Abdullah Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Riaz Dawar.

“Majority of the shops inside the market were closed when the blast hit the market,” Dawar told Arab News.

“A wall of the security forces’ camp was also partially damaged due to the intensity of the blast.”

The bodies and injured were shifted to hospital. Two of the wounded persons were brought to Trauma Center in Quetta who were in stable condition and undergoing treatment, according to Dr. Arbab Kamran Kasi.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Gulistan town that is situated close to Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.

Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.

The TTP and Daesh have also maintained some presence in Balochistan.

The latest attack comes two days after the TTP said it had targeted a security check post in Balochistan’s Khuzdar that killed four members of the Levies paramilitary force.

In Jan. 2025, Pakistan’s military said security forces had thwarted an attack on a paramilitary force’ camp in Gulistan, killing two suicide bombers among five attackers.