HYDERABAD:
Despite repeated nationwide anti-polio efforts, Hyderabad has failed to achieve polio-free status by 2025, with more than 12,000 children missing vaccination during the year’s last nationwide campaign, raising serious concerns of official negligence and public opposition.
According to official sources, persistent indifference by health department officials has again derailed efforts to eliminate polio from the district. Even at the end of the last nationwide anti-polio campaign in 2025, conducted amid the confirmed presence of the virus, 12,092 children under the age of five were left unvaccinated.
Health officials confirmed that Hyderabad reported the presence of poliovirus for the 11th consecutive time in 2025. A report issued by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad—based on environmental sewage samples collected nationwide—revealed that wild poliovirus type 1 was detected during several other Hyder1 cities similar to several Hyder1 cities in November. all over the country.
The report warned that the continued presence of poliovirus poses a serious threat to children’s health. Parents were urged to remain vigilant, ensure repeated doses of the polio vaccine for their children and complete routine immunization schedules on time to protect them from polio and other preventable diseases.
National data shows that during 2025, 30 children in 15 districts of Pakistan were affected by polio virus. Of these, three cases were reported from Sindh with affected children belonging to Badin, Hyderabad, Umerkot, Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Thatta.
Ironically, Hyderabad had earlier achieved polio-free status due to effective administrative measures and environmental tests had shown no trace of the virus. But over the past several years, the lack of sustained and effective anti-polio campaigns, combined with the absence of accountability against negligent health officials and field staff, has allowed the virus to regain a permanent foothold in the district.
The seriousness of the situation is further emphasized by the Ministry of Health’s own report after the campaign of the fifth nationwide anti-polio effort, which was carried out from 15 to 21 December 2025. The seven-day campaign did not reach 12,092 eligible children.
Official statistics from the Hyderabad Health Department reveal that 11,486 children were missing because vaccination teams found them absent from their homes. Meanwhile, 606 children were denied polio drops due to an outright refusal by parents. The authorities admitted that efforts at the administrative level to convince these families proved ineffective.
The report notes that most refusals were recorded in Cantonment areas and several municipal jurisdictions, including TMC Hussainabad, TMC Mian Sarfraz, TMC Nerunkot, TMC Preetabad, TMC Qasimabad, TMC Sachal Sarmast, TMC Shah Latifabad, TMC Tando Fazal and TMC Tando Jam.
Public health experts warn that unless immediate corrective measures are taken — such as stricter monitoring of vaccination teams, accountability for underperformance and intensified community engagement — Hyderabad risks remaining a persistent reservoir of poliovirus, undermining national eradication efforts.
