Pakistan vaccination efforts in partnership with the World Health Organization have protected more than 160 million children and 130 million mothers since the Expanded Programme on Immunization began in 1978, delivering life saving vaccines across the country.
Thanks to decades of sustained delivery, Pakistan has averted an estimated 2.6 million child deaths from vaccine preventable diseases and eradicated smallpox before the launch of the national programme. The medical science behind WHO prequalified vaccines has been central to these gains and continues to guide immunization work at every level of the health system.
Polio cases in Pakistan have fallen dramatically, with a reduction of 99.8% since 1994, from an estimated 20,000 cases to just 31 in 2025. Routine immunization and targeted campaigns have also secured WHO certification for the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus in Punjab, Sindh, Pakistan-Administered Kashmir, Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan, bringing approximately 80% of the population into neonatal tetanus free areas.
Each year WHO supports the immunization of over 7 million children and 5.5 million women in Pakistan against 13 vaccine preventable diseases, while supplementary polio campaigns reach some 45 million children. To deliver this scale WHO helps train and mobilize about 15,000 routine vaccinators and more than 400,000 frontline polio workers, the largest polio vaccination workforce in the world.
WHO estimates that the national EPI averts up to 17% of childhood mortality in Pakistan, making immunization the most cost effective single public health intervention available. Beyond preventing deaths, vaccines have avoided tens of millions of illnesses, disabilities and hospital admissions, reducing financial strain on families and the health system while improving quality of life for children and mothers.
Frontline workers continue to turn evidence into action across urban centres and remote communities. Vaccinator Sanam Sarfaraz was photographed administering a vaccine at a rural health centre in Barakahu, Islamabad in April 2026, a reminder of the local commitment that underpins national progress. WHO leadership has reiterated that the robust science behind prequalified vaccines must guide decisions and counter misinformation so Pakistan vaccination gains can be sustained and expanded.
