ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Two new cases of poliovirus have been confirmed in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, pushing Pakistan’s total for 2025 to 23, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Tuesday.
According to the NIH’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication, the latest cases include a 16-month-old girl from Union Council Mullazai in Tank district and a 24-month-old girl from Union Council Miran Shah-3 in North Waziristan.
“With these detections, Pakistan has now reported 23 polio cases in 2025, including 15 from KP, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the statement said.
Polio remains endemic in only two countries worldwide, Pakistan and Afghanistan, despite decades of global eradication efforts. Security challenges, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation continue to undermine vaccination drives in high-risk regions, particularly southern KP.
Health officials reiterated that polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis.
“The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) and timely completion of all routine immunizations,” the NIH noted.
To curb the spread, the National Emergency Operations Centre has scheduled a nationwide vaccination campaign during the upcoming low transmission season. The first phase will run from September 1–7, targeting over 28 million children under five, while a focused drive in southern KP will begin on September 15.
Authorities urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive the vaccine during every campaign. “Polio eradication is a shared responsibility. Parents, caregivers, and communities must support vaccination efforts and counter misinformation to protect future generations,” the statement added.
Last week, two additional cases were detected: a six-year-old girl in Kohistan, KP, and a 21-month-old girl in Sindh’s Badin district. Earlier this month, poliovirus was also found in 36% of environmental samples across 87 districts tested nationwide.