Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday confirmed Pakistan’s obligation to eradicate polio and called for accelerated efforts and stronger coordination among national, regional and international partners.
The Prime Minister, who was chairman of a meeting of the Anti-Polio Task Force in Islamabad, said the government remains determined to protect every child in the country from the disease. “We are obliged to protect each child in Pakistan from this paralyzing disease and achieves a poliofri Pakistan,” he said.
Shehbaz emphasized the need for complete dedication to ensure that all children over Pakistan get more doses of the polio vaccine. He also highlighted the importance of tackling both human transmission and environmental presence of the virus.
Recognizing the future progress praised the prime minister inaugurated the front-line health workers, contributions from provincial and regional governments and the law enforcement authorities in support of the anti-polio campaign.
Read: PM notices GB Polio Case
He expressed particular gratitude to Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman for his support for Pakistan’s polio -depletion efforts.
He also praised the important contributions from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its global development program, led by Dr. Christopher Elias along with the continued commitment from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rotary International and KS Relief.
The meeting was informed that district-specific polio campaigns have been designed for southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to tackle located challenges more effectively. In addition to targeting new polio cases among children, these campaigns also aim to eliminate the virus from the environment.
The Islamabad meeting attended senior officials and global health leaders, chief secretaries from all four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Chief Commissions for Islamabad also participated in the session.
Shehbaz reiterated that the safety of polio workers is a highest priority and instructed all stakeholders to intensify their collective efforts to completely eliminate the disease. He concluded by stating that with a firm political will and international cooperation, the goal of a poliofri Pakistan is within reach.
Previously, a polio case was reported in North Waziristan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where a 19-month-old boy tested positively, bringing the country’s total to 14 cases in 2025.
The case, confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio-Outrime at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad, is the eighth reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with others recorded in Sindh (4), Punjab (1) and Gilgit-Baltistan (1).
Pakistan saw its highest increase in the last decade in 2019 with 147 cases nationwide before cases fell sharply in 2021. However, a resurgence in 2024, especially in Sindh and Balochistan, strengthened the call for continuous, targeted anti-polio strategies.
