Pakistan reported its first polio case in 2025, with a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirmed to have contracted the virus.
According to sources from the National Reference Laboratory, the girl, who presented the first symptoms of polio on November 25, has been diagnosed with wild poliovirus type 1.
In 2024, Pakistan recorded a total of 68 polio cases, of which 21 were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Balochistan reported 27 cases, Sindh had 19, while Punjab and Islamabad reported one case each.
Polio, a debilitating disease that causes irreversible paralysis and, in some cases, death, has no cure.
However, it can be prevented by multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine. Ensuring that all children under five years of age are fully vaccinated is essential to providing immunity against the virus.
In response to the resurgence of WPV1, the Pakistan Polio Program has carried out numerous mass vaccination campaigns throughout the year.
These campaigns aim to reach children at their doorsteps and ensure full vaccination. The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) also offers free vaccines against 12 childhood diseases in health centers throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the year 2024 was one of the most challenging for polio eradication efforts in Sindh’s second-largest urban center, amid accusations of negligence and incompetence dogging government officials.
Repeated vaccination campaigns failed to eradicate the devastating disease, as the virus not only persisted in the city’s sewage system but also left two children disabled for life.
The concerned officials reportedly took no significant steps throughout the year to eradicate the virus.
Instead of addressing the challenge head-on, the focal persons at the district and regional levels, working under the district commissioner and deputy commissioner, only offered false assurances to the top brass, creating the illusion of progress in the fight. against polio.
