A health worker administers anti-polio drops to a child during the launch of the citywide vaccination campaign, marking another crucial step in the fight to protect future generations from the crippling disease. PHOTO FILE: JALAL QURESHI/EXPRESS
Pakistan was ranked among the top five countries worldwide for absolute reduction in child deaths, owing to vaccination efforts, Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.
In a statement issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan had averted 2.6 million child deaths from preventable diseases. The country had also eradicated smallpox, reduced paralytic polio cases by 99.8 per cent, and ensured neonatal tetanus-free areas for 80 per cent of its population.
Since 1994, powered by the medical science behind vaccines, Pakistan has reduced paralytic polio cases by 99.8 per cent up to 2025.
The statement said Pakistan, in collaboration with the WHO, has protected 160 million children and 130 million mothers with life-saving vaccines over five decades.
It further added that Pakistan obtained WHO certification for the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus in Punjab, Sindh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
According to WHO, this ensured that approximately 80 per cent of the country’s population now lived in areas where neonatal tetanus no longer posed a public health threat, with fewer than one case per 1,000 live births.
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“The achievement is the result of joint efforts by governments, partners, frontline health workers, communities, and parents across the country,” it said.
WHO Representative in Pakistan, Dr Luo Dapeng, said the organisation was proud to stand with Pakistan to support more than 15,000 routine vaccinators on the ground and over 400,000 polio vaccinators.
He added that these efforts aimed “to protect every child and every mother, regardless of social or economic status, and no matter where they live or who they are.”
