ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts have suffered a fresh setback with the confirmation of two new poliovirus cases. The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad verified that two children from the Sindh province have been diagnosed with the crippling disease.
One affected child is from Badin district, and the other is from Thatta district. These two additions bring the total number of polio cases in Pakistan for 2025 to 29, including 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Challenge of Vaccination Refusals
The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, in collaboration with the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI), conducted a vaccination campaign across 25 districts of Sindh from September 1 to 7.
Sources indicate that while the campaign initially targeted 2.1 million children, a significant number, particularly in Karachi, remained unvaccinated. The core challenge continues to be resistance from local communities. Nearly 35,000 parents in Sindh have reportedly refused to allow their children to be vaccinated against poliovirus, with the majority of these refusals concentrated in Karachi. This sustained resistance stands in contrast to a reported decline in vaccine refusals witnessed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Upcoming Drive and Global Context
The next nationwide anti-polio campaign, according to the National EOC, is scheduled to take place from October 13 to 19. The ambitious drive aims to administer polio drops to more than 45.4 million children across the country.
Pakistan remains one of the only two polio-endemic countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan. After achieving a significant drop in case numbers, the country was near eradication in 2021 before the recent spike. Last year, Pakistan reported a total of 74 polio cases.
Polio is a debilitating and paralysing disease with no cure; the timely completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five remains the only proven method to provide high immunity against this terrible disease.
