Chaman: Unidentified armed men opened fire on a polio vaccination team in the Roghani area of Chaman, killing the team’s area in-charge, while the accompanying female health workers emerged unscathed, according to Assistant Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Baloch.
This tragic incident underscores the grave risks facing polio teams in Balochistan, a province long witnessing sporadic but deadly attacks on health workers.
Pakistan’s polio eradication effort began with the Expanded Programme of Immunization in the 1970s, with formal intensified eradication campaigns launching in 1994. The country has undergone more than 100 vaccination rounds, with over 330,000 trained polio workers dedicated to the cause.
In recent years, Balochistan has remained a focal point due to outbreaks and resistance in some regions. In July 2025, authorities launched a week-long campaign to vaccinate over half a million children under five, targeting 123 high-risk union councils including Chaman, Quetta, Pishin, Duki, Zhob, Dera Bugti, and Killa Abdullah.
In June–July 2024, a mass campaign sought to reach 9.5 million children across multiple provinces, including 16 districts of Balochistan.
The region has also seen catch-up drives for zero-dose children—for instance, an October 2024 initiative aimed at vaccinating 200,000 underserved children in Quetta.
Despite these efforts, attacks persist. For instance, in May 2025, militants killed a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in Noshki, although the health workers were unharmed. These violent disruptions reflect longstanding hostility more than 200 polio staff and their security escorts have been killed since the 1990s.
