Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated.

Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday “in response to the alarming increase in polio cases,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's adviser for the polio eradication program. “We are re-energized in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.

During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than 5 will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door.

Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said.

Pakistan has recorded 41 cases across 71 districts so far this year, Farooq said. Most were reported from southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.

The surge in cases in new locations is worrying authorities since previous cases were from the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.

Authorities in Pakistan say the Taliban’s recent decision will have repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped. It is one of the world’s most infectious diseases, so it continues to spread anywhere people are not fully vaccinated. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent paralysis and death.

In Afghanistan, a Public Health Ministry spokesman said Monday that vaccinations have started in 16 of the country’s 34 provinces. The campaign will last three days and target 6.2 million children under the age of 5, said Sharafat Zaman.

“It is worth mentioning that we do not have any positive confirmed cases of polio in 2024 and we are trying to prevent this virus through vaccination,” said Zaman.

Data from the World Health Organization says there have been 23 confirmed cases in Afghanistan this year. That’s up from six cases in 2023.

The immunization will take place in mosques and community hubs known as hujra, rather than door-to-door. That means people will have to take children to vaccinators, instead of health workers going house-to-house as is the norm.

Zaman did not respond to questions about who is carrying out the immunizations, what will happen to female polio workers, and what impact a mosque or hujra-based campaign will have on vaccination rates.

Women are not allowed to enter mosques or hujras.

Mothers or female carers may face other hurdles to access polio vaccines for children, like not being able to move freely without a male guardian or not being allowed in front of a man who is unrelated to them through blood or marriage.

The WHO has been contacted for comment about the Taliban-led vaccination drive.

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, center, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

A health worker, center, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a school, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a school, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases

Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases

FILE -A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighborhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad, File)

VADODARA, India (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez inaugurated India's first private military aircraft plant on Monday, boosting New Delhi's ambitions of growing local manufacturing in its defense and aerospace industries.

Sanchez was welcomed to the country with a roadshow in Gujarat state's Vadodara city where hundreds of people cheered and waved banners.

The two leaders then launched the Tata Aircraft Complex, the manufacturing hub that will produce the Airbus C-295 transport military aircraft in collaboration with Airbus Spain and to be deployed by the Indian air force.

Sanchez said the project was a triumph of Modi's vision “to turn India into an industrial powerhouse and a magnet for investment and business-to-business collaboration."

“This partnership between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors for the arrival of other European companies,” he added.

The chairman of Tata conglomerate, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, hailed it as a historic day for the country's defense sector and credited the late Ratan Tata, the industrialist and former chairman who died earlier this month, for conceiving the idea more than a decade ago.

Under a $2.5 billion deal signed in 2021, Airbus will deliver the first 16 of the aircraft from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. Six of them have been delivered to the Indian air force so far.

Tata Advanced Systems Ltd will produce 40 of the aircraft in the Vadodara plant, which is expected to roll out the first C-295 aircraft made in India in 2026. The aircraft can transport up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers and will be able to access remote locations. It can also be used for medical evacuations and to aid in disaster response and maritime patrol duties.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has vowed to turn India into a global manufacturing hub, including in infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and defense. As part of an effort to modernize and reform military equipment, the government has sought to grow the private defense manufacturing sector, a space previously occupied solely by the government-run organizations, and has eased foreign direct investment regulations to try and encourage companies to establish themselves in India.

The visit marks the first by a Spanish leader to India in 18 years. Modi and Sanchez have previously met on the sidelines of global summits in 2018 and 2021. During the two-day visit, Sanchez will hold talks with Modi to review ties between the countries and also speak with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

On Tuesday, Sanchez will travel to Mumbai, India's financial capital and home to Bollywood, where he is expected to interact with trade and industry leaders, and also visit film studios in an effort to grow collaboration between the Indian and Spanish entertainment industry.

Their bilateral trade stood at nearly $10 billion as of 2023. According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, more than 200 Spanish companies actively operate in India and around 80 Indian companies in Spain.

The two leaders are expected to sign agreements that will further boost ties and cooperation in various areas such as trade, information technology, renewable energy and defense, according to an Indian government statement.

In this photo provided by the Gujarat state Press Information Bureau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez inaugurate Tata Aircraft complex for made in India C-295 aircraft in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Gujarat State Press Information Bureau via AP)

In this photo provided by the Gujarat state Press Information Bureau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, shakes hand with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in front of Laxmi Vilas Palace before their meeting in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Gujarat State Press Information Bureau via AP)

In this photo provided by the Gujarat state Press Information Bureau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, pose in front of C-295 transport military aircraft after inaugurating India's first private military aircraft plant in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Gujarat State Press Information Bureau via AP)

In this handout photo provided by the Press Information Bureau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, third left, and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, second left, listen to an aide at the exhibition after inaugurating India's first private military aircraft plant in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Press Information Bureau via AP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center left, and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, center right, wave to greet people from a vehicle in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center left, and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, center right, wave to greet people from a vehicle in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center left, and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, center right, wave to greet people from a vehicle in Vadodara, India, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)