Over 8,000 police personnel deployed to protect polio teams in Pakistan's Karachi
Authorities in Karachi, Pakistan, have deployed over 8,000 police officers to protect health workers during a week-long anti-polio vaccination campaign. The initiative faces ongoing security threats from militants and challenges related to vaccine hesitancy.
Why it matters
The persistence of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan remains a critical global public health concern, complicated by regional security instability.
Karachi More than 8,000 police personnel have been deployed in Pakistan's port city, Karachi, to provide security to vaccination teams during a week-long anti-polio campaign, an official said on Monday (November 2, 2026). The campaign, conducted from November 2 to 8, has also begun in other parts of Pakistan, including Balochistan province, where vaccination teams are operating in 31 districts under heightened security measures. Pakistan gunmen kill two police guarding polio vaccinators Pakistan gunmen kill two police guarding polio vaccinators In Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan -- the only countries where polio remains endemic -- militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts Pakistan gunmen kill two police guarding polio vaccinators storyline 1 The development comes a day after the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication confirmed that the new case was reported from Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
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