Pakistan’s battle against polio has suffered another setback as two fresh cases have been confirmed from the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising the country’s total number of cases in 2025 to 23.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed that the new cases emerged from Tank and North Waziristan districts. The patients include a 16-month-old girl from Union Council Malzai in Tank district and a 24-month-old girl from Union Council Miranshah-3 in North Waziristan.
According to official data, so far in 2025, a total of 15 cases have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 6 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan. Despite significant progress, the emergence of new cases shows that certain areas remain vulnerable to polio transmission.
Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause permanent disability. The only effective way to prevent it is to ensure that every child under five receives repeated doses of oral polio vaccine during every immunization campaign and completes their routine vaccinations on time.
Officials highlighted that the continued reporting of cases, particularly in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is alarming and indicates that children in remote areas and households refusing vaccination remain at risk. However, the National and Provincial Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) are taking all necessary steps to ensure high-quality vaccination campaigns.
To stop the transmission of the poliovirus, the National EOC has drawn up a comprehensive vaccination schedule for the upcoming low-transmission season. The first campaign will be conducted nationwide from September 1 to 7, 2025, while in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it will begin on September 15. During this drive, more than 28 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated door-to-door to rapidly boost immunity and close existing protection gaps.
Parents and caregivers have been urged to ensure that their children receive polio drops in every round, as polio eradication is a shared responsibility. While frontline health workers continue to play their role in administering vaccines, local communities are also encouraged to support the campaigns, counter misinformation, and motivate others to vaccinate their children to secure a polio-free future.
