Pakistan begins last anti-polio vaccination campaign of year after cases surge

A police officer stands guard as a health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child, in Peshawar, Pakistan (Muhammad Sajjad/AP)

Pakistan began its last nationwide vaccination campaign for the year to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases hampered efforts to stop the disease, officials said.

According to the World Health Organisation, Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the potentially fatal, paralysing virus has not been stopped.