At a high-level meeting in Geneva, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Health reiterated the government’s determination to improve child health by strengthening vaccination coverage and expanding access in underserved areas. The Minister thanked Dr. Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for continued support and noted that the National Vaccine Policy has now been formally approved and is being readied for nationwide implementation.
The Minister outlined plans to engage partner states including Indonesia, China and Saudi Arabia to draw on their expertise in vaccine development and production, and formally requested Gavi’s technical guidance to build local vaccine manufacturing capacity. Strengthening local production is being framed as a key pillar of Pakistan immunization strategy to ensure long-term sustainability.
Emphasising community engagement, the Minister reflected on lessons learned from the initial HPV rollout, attributing earlier resistance in part to limited communication. He described how a personal demonstration of confidence in the vaccine—vaccinating his own daughter—helped lift public acceptance to nearly 80 percent, and called for transparent, well-designed media campaigns to secure a stronger response during the second phase of HPV vaccination.
The Minister also reaffirmed that Pakistan has consistently met its co-financing obligations to Gavi, a signal of sustained government ownership. Looking ahead, Pakistan will lead the transition to Gavi 6.0 reprogramming through a consultative, country-led process to set a renewed strategic agenda with a priority on reaching zero-dose children.
To address access gaps in remote districts, the Minister sought Gavi support for a pilot introduction of the hexavalent vaccine in hard-to-reach communities, with the aim of demonstrating feasibility and informing a possible future move from pentavalent to hexavalent vaccines. Programmatic integration between the Polio Eradication Initiative and the Expanded Programme on Immunization will be reviewed, with a decision on enhanced synergy expected by mid-2027; key leadership roles have already been filled to strengthen performance across both programmes.
Dr. Sania Nishtar reaffirmed that Pakistan remains a priority country for Gavi and pledged continued support to boost immunization coverage, address community resistance through transparency and tailored media engagement, and assist with the proposed hexavalent pilot in underserved areas. Both sides expressed mutual appreciation and a commitment to sustained collaboration to advance Pakistan immunization goals.
