Even before the year 2025 reached halfway through, the number of new polio cases in Pakistan has increased to 12, raising alarm for the entire world. There were just six cases of poliovirus-infected patients in 2023. However, the Pakistani government’s mismanagement and opposition to vaccines by Islamic hardliners affected the eradication of the poliovirus.

There were 10 countries with poliovirus presence at the onset of the 21st century. While other countries managed to eradicate the virus, Pakistan besides Afghanistan remains the stronghold of viral transmission.1 “It has spread to all districts of Pakistan. We’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” said Zulfiqar Bhutta, Director of Research at Toronto-based Centre for Global Child Health.23

This is concerning as even the sensitive African continent became poliovirus-free by 2020, leaving only Pakistan and Afghanistan as the last sources of the paralysing virus. Earlier this year Saudi Arabia made polio certificate mandatory for Pakistani travellers amid the growing cases of poliovirus in Pakistan.4 A few countries including Egypt have already made such certificates necessary for Pakistani travellers.5

Health research by reputed medical professionals in Pakistan asserted that the resurgence of polio exhibited the threat of the disease, which posed significant challenges in achieving full eradication due to socio-religious misconceptions. “In many regions of Pakistan, local beliefs and misinformation play a critical role in shaping public attitudes towards vaccines. Distrust in the healthcare system, often rooted in historical grievances, is further fuelled by rumours spread via social media,” reads the research led by Erum Siddiqui of Karachi-based Jinnah Sindh Medical University.67

In some parts of Pakistan, health workers engaged in poliovirus vaccination are targetted by militants. Ahmad Bhittani and Shoaib Khan were among about 30 vaccinators who resigned after their colleagues were kidnapped. “Now, I can’t even visit my home village anymore. I’m worried the militants will shoot me because of the work I did in the past,” said Bhittani. Khan said militants accused them of killing their children. “Our kidnappers said that jihad against polio workers is a religious obligation,” he said.8

Moreover, individuals and families too are involved in violence against the vaccinators, said researcher and journalist Sameen Daud Khan. However, he held the government responsible for the failure of the vaccination programme. “The government’s efforts to combat polio, while appreciable, appear insufficient. Security measures for health workers remained reactive rather than proactive, and the logistical shortcomings persisted, especially in the country’s most vulnerable regions,” Khan said.9

Variable governance, inconsistent leadership and accountability as major reasons for the failure of the polio eradication programme in Pakistan, revealed a report by a group of researchers from Canada and Pakistan.

“Pakistan Polio Programme has experienced large amounts of variability due to variable governance, and weak management. Poor governance has thwarted Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts,” as per the report, in which Bhutta was one of the researchers.10

UNICEF has warned that children in Pakistan were unsafe as long as poliovirus continued to circulate.11 The Bhutta-led report criticised the Pakistan government for failing to develop trust among the communities about the benefits of polio vaccination. “Repeated polio campaigns had contributed to community fatigue and fostered vaccine hesitancy Frustrations with the lack of essential services such as poor water and sanitation also fostered mistrust in the Pakistani government and contributed to polio vaccine refusal,” it said.12

Pakistan received the dubious distinction of being the hotspot of debilitating disease, said author and senior journalist Zubeida Mustafa, who also said that polio could be eradicated from Pakistan if there was enough political will. “The problem is that the authorities whose job it is to look after the health of the people are not working as they should be. Unfortunately, the government has not been serious about it,” she said.13

Speaking about the embarrassment Pakistan faces, Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh province said his country was still stuck in a loop trying to eradicate the poliovirus when the world was exploring new avenues of development and progress.14 Unfortunately, the polio threat extended beyond Pakistan’s borders, said Sameen Daud Khan. “As one of the last reservoirs of wild poliovirus, the country’s failure threatens global eradication efforts. The world has eliminated smallpox and nearly vanquished polio. Pakistan’s stumbles risk squandering this progress,” Khan said.15    (Geopolitico)

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Pakis­tan has reported another case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), taking the total to three cases in 2025.

According to an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Era­d­i­cation, the case has been reported from Larkana, Sindh.

The official said that the victim is a 54-month-old girl.

This is the second polio case reported from Sindh this year, with the third one detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistan is facing a res­u­r­gence of poliovirus, as 74 cases were reported in 2024.

Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 22 from KP, 23 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

This year’s first nationwide polio vaccination campaign was held earlier this month.

It was followed by a fractional IPV-OPV Polio [injectable polio vaccine] campaign in Quetta and Karachi on Feb 20 and 22, respectively.

Around one million children were targeted for vaccination in this campaign, according to the officials.

Moreover, a vaccination campaign in 104 union councils bordering Afghanistan or having Afghan refugee camps is scheduled from Feb 24 to 28.

Around 660,000 children will be targeted for vaccination during this activity. (Dawn)

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Pakistan on Wednesday reported a new polio case in Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the previous year’s tally to 69, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a statement.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, with the disease mostly affecting children under five, and sometimes causing lifelong paralysis. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of the 69th wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case of 2024 from the country,” the statement said.

It added that on January 7, the lab confirmed a case from Tank, making it the 5th case of 2024 from the district.

Pakistan has been responding to the resurgence of WPV1 since last year with 69 cases reported. Of these, 27 are from Balochistan, 21 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19 from Sindh, and one each is from Punjab and Islamabad, respectively, the statement added.

Polio is a paralysing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential to provide them with high immunity against this terrible disease, the statement continued.

The year’s first polio vaccination campaign is scheduled to be conducted nationwide from February 3 – 9, 2025. To keep children safe, it is critical for parents to welcome vaccinators among them and bring their children forward for vaccination.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that Afghanistan reported 25 cases of polio in the year 2024. Whereas, Pakistan has reported 68 cases of the crippling disease and the clock is still ticking as reports of the number of samples, collected last year, are yet to receive.

However, a senior official of the Polio Programme of Pakistan said in response that Pakistan has been following the policy of sharing the facts, and Pakistan’s reporting system is much better compared to Afghanistan, which means that there is a strong possibility that several cases might be underreported in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Polio Programme conducts multiple mass vaccination drives in a year, bringing the vaccine to children at their doorsteps, while the Expanded Programme on Immunisation provides vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases free of charge at health facilities.

A sub-national Polio vaccination campaign was conducted across Punjab, Sindh, KP, AJK, GB, and Islamabad from December 16 to 22 vaccinating over 42 million children. (Dawn)

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A forum, Thursday, was informed that out of 32 poliovirus cases reported in the country, over 78 percent poliovirus positive children either didn’t receive any routine vaccination or missed vaccine dose during house-to-house drive this year.

This was stated by Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath, the Prime Minister’s Coordinator on National Health Services and Regulation here, while chairing a high-level meeting convened to review the progress in the wake of recent polio cases reported from different provinces. The meeting, besides others was attended by Federal Secretary Health Nadeem Mehboob, the National and Provincial Coordinators of the Polio Programme, as well as the representatives from international organisations.

The participants were informed that 20 children either did not receive routine vaccination and five more children missed vaccination dose during house-to-house drive this year, therefore, a comprehensive strategy was needed to address the serious health issue which the ministry in collaboration with other partners has devised to arrest the current polio outbreak, Dr Bharath said.

Dr Bharath also noticed that children who missed vaccinations all together are experiencing severe disease manifestations. Conversely, children receiving inadequate doses of the vaccine still remain susceptible to the virus, albeit with much milder illness. Drawing from evidence, Dr Bharath urged provincial health departments for intense focus on strengthening routine immunisation. Stressing parental responsibilities, he further stressed all parents to fulfil their religious obligations to protect their children against all vaccine preventable diseases including polio ensuring their up-to-date essential immunisation besides vaccinating them in every door-to-door campaign planned by the programme.

He said that the epidemiology is worrisome; the country programme was rightly placed to reverse the current virus tide through effective implementation of consensus strategy devised by the federal and provincial governments along with all stakeholders.

The forum conducted a thorough review of the current polio situation and efforts being undertaken to halt the intense outbreak resulting in 32 polio cases and 68 districts having evidence of wild polio virus presence during 2024 so far. Pertinent to note that after getting closest ever to eradication in 2021 and no polio case for almost 15 months, the virus sparked back in South KP with 20 cases in 2022. However, after reintroduction of virus from across the border, the surge starting in 2023 has continued unabated spreading geographically in Pakistan and similar developments across the border in Afghanistan.

Following an overview of the current risk by the National Coordinator and update on the progress on 2-4-6 strategy, the provincial coordinators briefed the forum on measures being undertaken to protect the vulnerable children from devastation of the paralysing virus alongside challenges being faced on ground.

As of this year, 2024, a total of 32 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan. Among these, 16 cases were reported from Balochistan, 10 from Sindh, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one case each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Dr Bharath further expressed his confidence on the very capable team and stood reassured by the fact that the country currently had one of the best surveillance systems globally, detecting the polio virus even in children with mild weaknesses.

The federal and provincial governments have jointly formulated a comprehensive and effective strategy to reverse the current virological trends by end of 2024 and therein, hunt the virus in its late hideouts to interrupt transmission next year, Dr Bharath stated.

Besides complementary activities under integrated service delivery in select pockets, the strategy includes delivering three high quality vaccination campaigns during September-December aimed at plugging the widespread immunity gap and halting further virus transmission. (Business Recorder)

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A second case of poliovirus in as many days took this year’s tally to 24 on Saturday, four times more as compared to 2023.

The latest child to be affected by the paralytic disease is a 29-month-old boy in Hyderabad district of Sindh, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradica­tion at the National Institute of Health confirmed.

The child, a resident of Chishtian colony, was vaccinated on Sept 11 during the recent nationwide vaccination drive, and again on Sept 19, according to Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abiden Memon.

The vaccination “did weaken the virus” but couldn’t eradicate it completely, as per the official.

After visiting the child and his family at their residence on Saturday, the DC said the child’s stool sample had been collected on Sept 14 following the family’s complaint of paralysis in the child’s body.

After ten days, the sample confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus (WPV1), the official added.

This is the second case from Hyderabad this year after one was reported in Aug­ust. Of the 24 polio cases, 15 were from Balochistan, five from Sindh, two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, a lab official confirmed.

Of the two dozen cases, seven have been reported since the vaccination campaign concluded on Sept 14. According to the polio programme, the nationwide polio vaccination campaign covered 33 million children under the age of five in 115 districts.

Despite the challenges, the polio programme hopes to curb the virus transmission by mid-2025 through a “comprehensive roadmap”.

The roadmap, made in consultation with the provinces, was focused on ensuring the vaccination of every child in polio high-risk areas, plugging operational gaps, building community trust through open communication, mapping and vaccinating all migrants and strengthening management and oversight to achieve the objective of polio eradication.

The polio programme has planned two more vaccination campaigns before the end of the year to boost immunity among the children.

Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq has called on parents and communities to fulfil their duty and ensure polio vaccination for children.

“Polio has no cure, yet it is entirely preventable with the help of an easily accessible vaccine that the government provides to families at their doorsteps.”

Meanwhile, experts have raised concern over the virus situation in the country.

A polio expert, wishing not to be quoted, told Dawn that it was a testing time for the new leadership as the widespread immunity gap would lead to more cases in the next couple of months despite a lot of hard work on the ground. (The Dawn)

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A 23-month-old girl in Balochistan’s Kharan district was diagnosed with poliovirus a day after her death, taking the tally of this year’s cases to 15, a health official has confirmed.

Balochistan remains an epicentre of the disease, with 12 cases reported from eight districts — Dera Bugti, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Quetta, Jhal Magsi, Zhob, Qila Saifullah and now Kharan.

The victim, a resident of Union Council South City-A in Kharan tehsil, died on August 19 at a hospital in Quetta, an official of the National Institute of Health (NIH) said.

He added that as per the parents, the child developed a high-grade fever, along with paralysis of both lower limbs and neck muscles, on July 31.

The family treated the child at home for five days and then took her to a local informal healthcare provider on Aug 4.

Three days later, on Aug 7, the child was taken to a private hospital where she was notified as a suspected case of poliovirus.

The case was investigated on the same day, and a sample was sent to the NIH. The patient had no history of intramuscular injection — usually a shot in the arm — in the last 24 hours prior to the onset of paralysis.

No travel history of the child has been reported pri­or to the onset of the virus. The child passed away on August 19, 2024, he said. (Dawn)

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