Pakistan has reported its first polio case of 2025, with a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) confirmed to have contracted the virus.
According to sources at the National Reference Lab, the girl, who first exhibited symptoms of polio on November 25, has been diagnosed with Wild poliovirus type 1.
In 2024, Pakistan recorded a total of 68 polio cases, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounting for 21 of them. Balochistan reported 27 cases, Sindh had 19, while Punjab and Islamabad each reported one case.
Polio, a debilitating disease that causes irreversible paralysis and death in some cases, has no cure.
However, it can be prevented through multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine. Ensuring that all children under the age of five are fully vaccinated is essential to providing immunity against the virus.
In response to the resurgence of WPV1, the Pakistan Polio Program has conducted numerous mass vaccination campaigns throughout the year.
These campaigns aim to reach children at their doorsteps and ensure complete vaccination. The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) also provides free vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases at health facilities across the country.
Meanwhile, the year 2024 was one of the most challenging years for polio eradication efforts in the second biggest urban centre of Sindh amid allegations of negligence and incompetence hounding government officials.
Repeated vaccination campaigns failed to stamp out the crippling disease as the virus not only persisted in the city's sewerage system but also disabled two children for life.
As per reports, the concerned officials failed to take meaningful action throughout the year to eradicate the virus.
Instead of addressing the challenge head-on, the focal persons at the district and regional levels - working under the district commissioner and deputy commissioner - only offered false assurances to high-ups, creating the illusion of progress in the anti-polio fight.
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