By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan confirmed a new case of polio in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Monday, pushing the country’s 2025 tally to 24, as health authorities launched a large-scale vaccination campaign targeting millions of children in high-risk areas.
The resurgence of the crippling disease, which remains endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan, underscores the persistent challenges facing the country’s decades-long effort to eradicate polio.
The latest case, reported in the Tank district of KP, involves a 20-month-old girl from Union Council Ping A, according to a statement from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme. This brings the total number of cases in KP to 16 this year, making it the hardest-hit province. Southern Sindh province has reported six cases, while Punjab and northern Gilgit-Baltistan have each recorded one.
Polio, a highly infectious and incurable viral disease, can cause lifelong paralysis, particularly in young children. The only defense is repeated doses of oral polio vaccine for all children under five, coupled with timely routine immunizations. Pakistan’s struggle to eliminate the virus has been hampered by vaccine misinformation, resistance from some religious hard-liners, and violent attacks on vaccination teams, particularly in KP and Balochistan.
On Monday, Pakistan launched a phase-wise vaccination campaign across 99 districts, targeting millions of children in high-risk areas, according to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC). The campaign mobilizes over 240,000 polio volunteers to administer vaccines door-to-door. In Punjab, more than 4.1 million children in seven high-risk districts are slated to receive the vaccine, while in Sindh, 8.9 million children in 25 districts are targeted. In Balochistan, the campaign aims to vaccinate over 2.1 million children across 26 districts, and in KP, more than 5.7 million children in 27 districts are included. The effort also extends to Islamabad, two districts in Azad Kashmir, and two in Gilgit-Baltistan.
The campaign faced a setback last week when flooding forced the postponement of vaccinations in nine Punjab districts. The NEOC urged parents to cooperate with polio teams, emphasizing the importance of timely immunization. “Ensure that all your children under five years of age are given the polio drops,” the NEOC said in a statement. “Complete the routine immunization schedule for your children on time to protect them from polio and other diseases.”
Pakistan’s fight against polio has seen significant progress since the national program began in 1994, when annual cases numbered around 20,000. By 2018, the country reported just eight cases, and in 2021, only one. But the virus has surged in recent years, with 74 cases recorded in 2024 and 24 so far this year, highlighting the fragility of gains made.
Efforts to eradicate polio have been repeatedly undermined by misinformation and violence. Some religious hard-liners have spread claims that the vaccine is a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for espionage, leading to vaccine hesitancy in some communities. Militant groups have also targeted polio workers and their security escorts, particularly in KP and Balochistan, where attacks have killed health workers and police officers in recent years.
The NEOC’s campaign reflects a renewed push to reverse the recent uptick in cases, but the challenges remain daunting. With Pakistan and Afghanistan as the last strongholds of polio globally, the stakes are high. Health officials are calling for sustained community support and international cooperation to finally eliminate the disease.
This story is based on information provided by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme and the National Emergency Operations Center.
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