Pakistan’s confirmed polio cases for 2025 have reached 10 after the National Institute of Health’s regional reference laboratory confirmation of two new wild poliovirus cases in Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Of these are five cases from KP, four from Sindh and one from Punjab.

Despite ongoing high-quality, high-quality polio-vaccination campaigns face areas of southern KP against significant challenges, including limited access and difficulties in implementing house-to-house immunizations, putting thousands of children at risk due to unanswered vaccinations.

In UC Bakhmal Ahmad Zai (Lakki Marwat), children missed vaccinations during the February and April campaigns and created immunity holes, while UC Saintanga, Tehsil Wazir (Bannu), has not seen a comprehensive campaign since October 2023.

Further problems such as a lack of female vaccinators and gaps monitoring have further expanded these immunity holes further.

The third nationwide polio vaccination campaign in 2025 begins on May 26, targeting over 45.4 million children under five years in 159 districts, including high risk areas in southern KP.