The National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed on Monday that two fresh polio cases have emerged in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), pushing Pakistan’s nationwide total to 26.
The new cases include a 19-month-old child from Mir Ali, North Waziristan, and an 11-month-old infant from Suleman Khel, Lakki Marwat. With this, KP’s tally has reached 18—the highest of any province—followed by Sindh with six cases, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, remains one of the last two polio-endemic countries. Despite vaccination drives, hurdles such as security concerns, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation continue to impede eradication efforts.
Environmental surveillance for August showed poliovirus in 51 of 126 sewage samples collected nationwide, with the highest concentration in Sindh—24 out of 29 samples positive, including 12 in Karachi. KP recorded 10 positive samples, while Punjab had 14, Balochistan one, and one each from Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad. Encouragingly, Peshawar samples tested negative, and Balochistan’s positive sites dropped sharply from 19 in January to one in August.
In response, a three-day sub-national polio campaign has been launched in southern KP, focusing on reaching children in high-risk and hard-to-access areas. KP Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah has instructed intensified monitoring to ensure every child is vaccinated.
NIH urged parents to ensure repeated oral polio vaccinations for all children under five, stressing that immunisation remains the only effective shield against this incurable and paralysing disease.
