KARACHI, September 27, 2026 — Polio vaccination workers in Karachi are facing resistance, verbal abuse and occasional threats as they continue visiting households to reach children who missed previous vaccination rounds. Community mobilizers say patience and repeated visits remain important in convincing hesitant families.
The challenges come as Pakistan conducts a week-long anti-polio campaign targeting more than 31 million children under five across 115 high-risk districts, including all 30 districts of Sindh.
Polio Workers Face Resistance From Families
Community mobilizer Javeria Ali told Arab News that she faced abuse and threats after persuading a mother to vaccinate her child. The woman’s husband reportedly sent threatening voice messages and accused Ali of pressuring the family.
Vaccination teams carry educational material, including laboratory reports, religious rulings and awareness videos, to answer concerns raised by parents about polio vaccination.
Workers say some residents refuse even to listen to their explanations, while others shut their doors when teams arrive.
More Than 146,000 Children Missed in Karachi
Data from the Sindh polio programme showed that more than 146,000 children were missed during Karachi’s July vaccination campaign.
Of those children, around 112,300 were listed as unavailable, while 33,918 were recorded as refusals. Officials said unavailable children can include those who were away from home or belong to mobile and migrant families who are difficult to locate during vaccination campaigns.
A subsequent 10-day follow-up operation reached 23,556 previously missed children, including more than 10,000 refusal cases.
Workers Return to Reluctant Households
Polio workers say they continue returning to households where children were not vaccinated during the initial visit.
Javeria Ashraf, another Karachi polio worker, said teams try to remain respectful even when residents react negatively. Workers believe repeated engagement can eventually help families overcome concerns and agree to vaccination.
Male mobilizers face additional difficulties in some conservative communities, particularly when male household members are away at work and cultural practices make it difficult for male workers to speak directly with women.
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Pakistan Continues Nationwide Anti-Polio Campaign
Pakistan’s September campaign runs from September 21 to September 27, with more than 273,000 frontline workers participating. The campaign is targeting children in high-risk areas as health authorities work to close vaccination gaps.
Pakistan has reported four wild poliovirus cases in 2026, including three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Sindh. The country and Afghanistan remain the world’s two countries where wild polio continues to be endemic.
The vaccination effort has also faced security challenges. On September 22, two police officers protecting a polio team were killed in Nushki, Balochistan, while the vaccination workers remained unharmed.
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