PESHAWAR, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has commenced the nationwide polio vaccination campaign this week, targeting some 39.6 million children under the age of 5, according to local media.

To contain the highly contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system, nearly 265,000 polio workers will go door-to-door to give vaccines.

[caption id="attachment_45482" align="alignnone" width="600"] A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_45483" align="alignnone" width="602"] A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_45484" align="alignnone" width="601"] A health worker marks a child after giving a polio vaccine in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on Feb. 18, 2020. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)[/caption]