What happened
The World Health Organization handed over 20 four-wheel-drive (4x4) vehicles to Pakistan’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) on 14 January 2026 to strengthen immunization activities and supervision in geographically challenging areas, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said.
The vehicles are to be assigned to 20 priority districts with a high concentration of children who have never been vaccinated, described in the announcement as “zero-dose” children. With financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the distribution plan allocates three vehicles each to Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; two each to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the federal level; and one each to the Capital Development Authority and the Islamabad Capital Territory.
How the vehicles will be used
According to the WHO account, the cars address transport shortages that have previously held back immunization performance in high-risk districts, particularly in remote areas. They are meant to improve the mobility of programme managers so they can supervise field activities directly, verify micro-plans and help ensure that vaccines are available even in the most distant communities.
The initiative follows an analysis that identified a need to strengthen field supervision in priority areas with geographical barriers, WHO said. The stated primary goal is to identify and vaccinate zero-dose children.
What officials said
Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, who received the vehicles at the handover ceremony, said the country’s health ecosystem faced significant challenges in water, sanitation and health infrastructure and that children must be vaccinated against 13 vaccine-preventable diseases. “We must prioritize immunization because, ultimately, prevention is better than cure,” he said, adding that the vehicles were intended to reach underprivileged people and those without awareness.
WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Luo Dapeng said reliable transport was essential for effective public health work and that the vehicles would improve regular supervision and allow logistical problems to be resolved on site. “WHO remains committed to partnering with Pakistan in strengthening its immunization systems to protect every child from vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said.
The Director-General of the Federal Directorate of Immunization, Dr Musa Khan, called the handover a significant step forward for health systems strengthening, saying the vehicles would help services in hard-to-reach and security-threatened areas so that “no child is left behind.”
Background
Pakistan launched its Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1978 in partnership with WHO. WHO said that since then up to 7 million children and 5.5 million pregnant women have been protected with life-saving vaccines every year. It added that globally vaccination saves a life every 10 seconds and that vaccines have saved 154 million lives in the last 50 years.
What is still uncertain
The announcement did not state the cost of the vehicles, the exact district list, or a timeline for when they will be deployed and for measuring any change in immunization coverage. It also did not give the total funding provided by Gavi for the handover.
Sources & reporting notes
This article summarises a news release published by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean on 14 January 2026. It is not eyewitness reporting.
- WHO EMRO — WHO and Gavi support Pakistan with vehicles to enhance immunization and reach "zero-dose" children in remote areas14 January 2026 · Statement from Islamabad on the 20 4x4 vehicles, the Gavi funding, the provincial distribution and comments by Mustafa Kamal, Luo Dapeng and Musa Khan.