{"id":63949,"date":"2026-06-19T05:45:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/?p=63949"},"modified":"2026-06-19T05:45:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:45:55","slug":"pakistan-nears-tetanus-elimination-as-khyber-pakhtunkhva-achieves-major-health-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/2026\/06\/19\/pakistan-nears-tetanus-elimination-as-khyber-pakhtunkhva-achieves-major-health-milestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Nears Tetanus Elimination as Khyber Pakhtunkhva Achieves Major Health Milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spokesman Report<\/p>\n

Peshawar\/Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013 Following a comprehensive field assessment in partnership with the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) has pre-validated the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. This milestone takes Pakistan closer to interrupting the transmission of this life-threatening disease among mothers and newborns nationwide. Around 94% of Pakistan\u2019s population \u2013 or approximately 250 million people \u2013 now live in areas where the spread of neonatal tetanus remains under controlled limits \u2013 less than 1 case of tetanus per 1,000 live births.<\/p>\n

Gilgit-Baltistan achieved elimination in July 2025, Islamabad Capital Territory and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir in March 2025, Sindh in December 2024, and Punjab in 2016. With Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s achievement of the elimination threshold, Balochistan is the only province still working towards this goal.<\/p>\n

\"\"The pre-validation assessment was conducted following a comprehensive review led by WHO and UNICEF, at the request of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which included field visits to high-risk, hard-to-reach districts with historically low immunization coverage, including Dera Ismail Khan, Battagram and Kohistan (Upper and Lower); a desk review of three years of surveillance data; and a quality audit of the tetanus vaccination campaigns in South Waziristan (Upper and Lower), where field access was not possible.<\/p>\n

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s achievement is the result of transformative strategies led by the national and provincial governments, in partnership with UNICEF and WHO. Combined efforts include improved immunization for pregnant women and women of childbearing age, surveillance, community engagement, safer delivery practices, improved skilled birth attendance, cord care, and enhanced access to other antenatal, maternal, newborn and child health services. Around 12,000 Lady Health Workers, together with thousands of vaccinators and frontline health staff, were at the heart of this effort, reaching women in some of the province\u2019s most remote and underserved communities.<\/p>\n

Babra, 36, and pregnant with her eighth child, is vaccinated against maternal and neonatal tetanus \u00a0by a UNICEF-supported Lady Health Worker in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. \u00a0Photo credit: \u00a9 UNICEF\/Pakistan\/Zunash Abbasi<\/p>\n

In 2025 alone, WHO and UNICEF supported the vaccination of 5.4 million pregnant women and women of childbearing age across Pakistan, including more than 870,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis achievement shows the commitment of Pakistan\u2019s authorities and its health workforce, as well as the communities, to saving lives and protecting every mother and child from a preventable disease. To achieve prosperity and sustainable development, every country needs healthy mothers and newborns. WHO will stand by Pakistan and its partners to achieve the elimination of neonatal tetanus across the country and protect every family, no matter where they live or who they are,\u201d said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Luo Dapeng.<\/p>\n

Despite progress, Pakistan remains among 8 countries worldwide that have yet to eliminate MNT. While Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s progress towards MNT elimination is a major achievement, sustained efforts are needed to maintain the hard-fought gains.<\/p>\n

“Pakistan is one step closer to protecting every mother and newborn from maternal and neonatal tetanus. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s progress reflects the determination of women to protect their own health and give their babies the best start in life, supported by dedicated frontline health workers and stronger health services and systems. Together with the government and our partners, UNICEF is proud to support this journey towards a healthier future for every child,” said Pernille Ironside, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

UNICEF and WHO will stand with Pakistan to accelerate action and support Balochistan, the remaining province, to take a decisive step towards the maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination target as part of the objectives of the Immunization Agenda 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spokesman Report Peshawar\/Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013 Following a comprehensive field assessment in partnership with the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) has pre-validated the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. This milestone takes Pakistan closer to interrupting the transmission of this life-threatening disease among mothers and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1156,495],"class_list":["post-63949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national","tag-united-nations-childrens-fund-unicef","tag-world-health-organization-who"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63952,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63949\/revisions\/63952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}