The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio -Duching at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed two new cases of wild poliovirus, bringing the total number of cases reported in Pakistan this year to 23.
According to official sources, the new cases were detected in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) -A each from district tank and district North Waziristan.
The affected children include a 16-month-old girl from Union Council Mullazai in Tank and a two-year-old girl from Union Council Miran Shah-3 in North Waziristan.
With these latest detections, the province of KP accounts for 15 of the 23 total cases reported in 2025. Sindh has reported six cases, while Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan have registered a case each.
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Health officials reiterated that polio is a very infectious and incurable disease that often leads to permanent paralysis in children.
They emphasized that the only reliable protection remains the repeated administration of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to each child under five during each national campaign along with full compliance with routine immunization plans.
While recognizing the progress made to reduce polio cases in recent years, authorities expressed concern about the persistent transmission of the virus, especially in parts of southern KP.
They attributed the continued risk of children in difficult to reach areas and societies with low vaccine accept.
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To tackle the situation, both national and provincial emergency surgery centers (EOCs) have intensified efforts to ensure high quality vaccination campaigns.
The National Emergency Operations Center has completed a comprehensive vaccination calendar for the upcoming low transmission season for the purpose of stopping further spread of the virus.
The first campaign of the season is scheduled to run from September 1 to September 7, with a focused campaign in southern KP, which begins on September 15. Over 28 million children under five are expected to be vaccinated during this nationwide door-to-door campaign.
“The goal is to ensure that no child is left behind,” said a senior official, emphasizing that “rapidly increased immunity levels in high risk areas are critical for interrupting transmission.”
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According to a report published in May 2025, there had been 17,136 rejection cases in Peshawar – the highest number of people who fell to allow the administration of polio vaccines to their children.
Other areas include Marran, 6,812 cases; Bannu, 10.781, Lakki Marwat, 976; Di Khan, 2,128; and Kohat, 1,009.
Shafiullah Khan, the coordinator of EOC in KP, said that attention campaigns through media played an important role and the number of parents refusing vaccination had dropped significantly.
“When there were thousands of refusals, there are now only a few areas left, and there is also an effort to tackle them,” Khan said. He recognized the challenges of the fight against polio and noted a lack of communication access and the ongoing security concerns in tribal districts as major concerns.
