Pakistan postpones polio vaccination drive in Balochistan after health workers boycotted it
Health workers demanded government stop plans to privatise state-run hospitals
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a slum area in Lahore, Pakistan, December 16, 2024
PAKISTANI authorities postponed a polio vaccination campaign in the country’s restive southern Balochistan province today after health workers boycotted it to oppose a proposed privatisation of hospitals.
Authorities on Monday launched the final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for the year, aiming to protect 45 million children.
According to the World Health Organisation, Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralysing virus has not been eradicated.
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