Amid freezing temperatures, health workers in Azad Jammu Kashmir(AJK) are enduring harsh conditions to administer polio vaccinations following a surge in cases nationwide last year.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries where polio is still endemic, with militants targeting vaccination teams and their security escorts for decades.
On the first day of this year’s annual polio vaccination campaign, a police officer guarding vaccinators in northwest Pakistan was killed by militants. The campaign is set to last one week.
A health worker administers polio drops to a child during a door-to-door vaccination campaign amidst heavy snow in the Bakwali-Surgan area of Azad Jammu Kashmir's Neelum Valley, on February 4, 2025. Photo:AFP
In Kashmir, health worker Manzoor Ahmad trudged through three feet of snow, braving temperatures as low as minus six degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit) to deliver vaccinations. “It’s a mountainous, challenging area… we arrive for polio vaccination despite the snow,” said Ahmad, who leads the campaign in the region.
Social worker Mehnaz, who has been assisting the vaccinators since 2018, highlighted the dangers posed by the extreme climate. “We have no monthly salary… we come here despite glaciers and avalanches,” she told. “We risk our lives and leave our children at home.”
Health workers sit on snow during a polio vaccination drive in Azad Jammu Kashmir's Neelum Valley on February 4, 2025. Photo: AFP
The challenge this year is greater, as Pakistan, with a population of 240 million, recorded at least 73 polio cases in 2024—an alarming increase from just six cases the previous year.
In Surgan, located 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, health workers aim to vaccinate around 1,700 children within the week.
Our target is to vaccinate 750,000 children under five across the country with 4,000 teams visiting homes,” said Ahmad. “There have been no polio cases in Kashmir for the last 24 years,” he added proudly.
A health worker marks a child's finger after administering polio drops during a vaccination drive in Azad Jammu Kashmir's Neelum Valley on February 4, 2025. Photo: AFP
Polio is easily preventable with an oral vaccine, but misinformation from some Islamic leaders, falsely claiming the vaccine contains pork or alcohol, has hindered progress. Despite these challenges, health workers continue their vital mission to protect children from the crippling disease.
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