ISLAMABAD: Ayesha Raza, 35, spends her days knocking on doors in Lahore, struggling to convince reluctant parents to vaccinate their children against polio.
Her job becomes incredibly challenging as some believe the drops will cause infertility in their children, others view the vaccine as forbidden in Islam, and a few claim it contains pig fat.
What makes her mission even more personal is her own story—she was never vaccinated as a child and was left with a disability in her left leg due to polio.
Today, she is determined to ensure no other child suffers the same fate as she did.
“Back then, people had no knowledge. They didn’t realise a child could be disabled by not being given the anti-polio vaccine. That’s why they didn’t take it seriously,” Raza recalls.
For the past 10 years, she has been part of Pakistan’s nationwide polio eradication campaigns, actively working in Lahore—the country’s cultural capital and the provincial headquarters of Punjab—delivering drops to children of her daughter’s age.
A mother of one, with an unemployed husband for the past three years, Raza maintains her commitment to protecting children from polio comes before everything else, outweighing her family’s financial struggles. But her job is anything but easy.
Polio by the numbers
Ziaur Rahman, spokesperson for the Pakistan Polio Programme, informs WE News English that 10 cases of wild poliovirus type-1 have so far been detected in Pakistan in 2025—five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (southern districts), four in Sindh, and one in Punjab.
There’s a general perception that refusals only happen in remote regions. But here in Lahore too, I encounter parents who believe the vaccine will make their children infertile.” – Ayesha Raza, polio vaccination worker
Recent sewage tests from 31 districts—including Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi—confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type 1, highlighting the virus’s continued threat.
He notes that polio refusal cases are more common in areas where there is resistance to vaccination campaigns, or where access remains a challenge. In some areas, he explains, the lack of female staff further complicates outreach.
“In Pakhtunkhwa, the southern districts such as Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, and Lakki Marwat are particularly affected. In Karachi, parental refusals are a recurring issue, which is also why environmental samples from such areas test positive for the virus. In short, we are facing challenges on multiple fronts,” he observes.
The first nationwide campaign, held from February 3 to 9, successfully reached 99 per cent of the targeted children—over 45 million under the age of five—thanks to more than 400,000 dedicated frontline workers, Rehman tells WE News English.
He says a second campaign in April achieved similar success, and a third is scheduled from May 26 to June 1, with the same ambitious target.
“More than 400,000 frontline health workers went door to door to administer polio drops to over 45 million children,” he states.
Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts face serious challenges, not only from militancy but also from widespread misinformation.
According to official data, around 60,000 parents refuse to vaccinate their children during every nationwide polio campaign in Pakistan.
The highest concentration of refusals is reported in Karachi, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Punjab.
These are baseless conspiracy theories with no scientific foundation. The vaccine is thoroughly tested and approved by international health bodies, including the World Health Organization.” – Dr Khalid Khan, general physician
A health official in Islamabad notes that Pakistan must remain polio-free for three consecutive years to declare victory, but in a climate of fear and falsehoods, even one year feels like an uphill battle.
Battling misinformation head-on
Health workers like Ayesha Raza confront daily resistance from parents. These myths persist even in urban centres like Lahore, not just remote areas.
“There’s a general perception that refusals only happen in remote regions,” she points out. “But here in Lahore too, I encounter parents who believe the vaccine will make their children infertile,” she tells We News English.
She laments that people are misled. “They lack awareness. We managed to convince some of them on the spot. For others, officials must intervene and hold meetings with the families.”
The roots of mistrust go deep, worsened by the 2011 CIA-led fake vaccination campaign used to locate Osama bin Laden.
Though there were some isolated incidents of violence, the number of attacks on polio workers increased after May 2011.
In high-risk zones like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and former tribal areas, vaccinators now work under police protection, walking a tightrope.
In Punjab, incidents of gunfire against polio workers are rare, but there have been numerous cases of polio workers being beaten and harassed. They are verbally abused and mistreated.
Dr Khalid Khan, a Peshawar-based general physician, says that the polio vaccine is completely safe and does not contain any harmful substances like pig fat, nor does it cause infertility.
“These are baseless conspiracy theories with no scientific foundation. The vaccine is thoroughly tested and approved by international health bodies, including the World Health Organization,” he explains.
He adds that it is the same vaccine used safely in Muslim countries worldwide, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Spreading such misinformation puts our children at risk of a disease that causes permanent paralysis. “We must rely on science, not rumours, to protect our future generations,” he stresses.
Frontline under fire
Amid Pakistan’s latest nationwide polio vaccination campaign, deadly attacks again highlighted the grave risks faced by frontline teams.
In Pakhtunkhwa, the southern districts such as Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, and Lakki Marwat are particularly affected. In Karachi parental refusals are a recurring issue… we are facing challenges on multiple fronts.” – Ziaur Rahman, Pakistan Polio Programme spokesperson
On May 27, 2025, a police official assigned to escort a polio team was martyred in the Noshki area of Balochistan.
On the same day, two polio workers were abducted in Lakki Marwat and were later recovered with the help of a local jirga.
Similarly, on April 23, 2025, two police officers escorting vaccinators were shot dead in Mastung, Balochistan.
Just over a week earlier, a bombing in the same district killed three and injured 18, while two polio workers were abducted in Dera Ismail Khan.
These incidents reflect the persistent threat posed by militancy and deep-rooted conspiracy theories.
According to media reports, more than 200 polio workers and their security escorts have been killed since the 1990s, often targeted due to fears that vaccination drives are foreign conspiracies.
Over the past five years, around 20 police personnel and polio workers have been killed, with most of the casualties reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by Balochistan.
Conflicting Taliban views
Unlike the Taliban militants operating in Pakistan, who have often opposed polio vaccination campaigns and contributed to resistance and violence against health workers, the Afghan Taliban have taken a different stance.
They do not object to the immunisation against polio and have allowed vaccination efforts to continue in areas under their control.
This more supportive approach in Afghanistan has helped reduce some of the misconceptions and resistance surrounding polio vaccines, although challenges with parental refusal still persist.
A polio eradication campaign is currently underway in Afghanistan as well. Misconceptions surrounding polio drops have significantly declined, yet cases of parental refusal still persist.
