Health workers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are enduring freezing temperatures to administer life-saving polio vaccinations, following a surge in cases across Pakistan last year. In the mountainous region of Kashmir, where temperatures have dropped to as low as minus six degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit), health worker Manzoor Ahmad and his team navigate three feet of snow to ensure children receive their vaccinations.
Ahmad, who leads the polio campaign in the region, shared the challenges faced by vaccinators, saying, “It is a mountainous, hard area… we arrive here for polio vaccination despite the snowfall.” The teams face significant dangers from avalanches and glaciers as they work to immunize children.
Social worker Mehnaz, who has been helping with the campaign since 2018, emphasized the risks involved, noting that the workers are not paid salaries and often leave their families behind. “We risk our lives and leave our children at home,” she said.
The current vaccination effort is aiming to reach 750,000 children under the age of five in AJK, with 4,000 polio teams visiting homes to ensure full coverage. The teams are working to vaccinate approximately 1,700 children in the town of Surgan, located 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
While polio cases have been absent from Kashmir for the last 24 years, the campaign continues to focus on maintaining this success and preventing a resurgence of the disease.
