ISLAMABAD: Regardless of lacking round 800,000 kids in the course of the 12 months’s final polio marketing campaign, Pakistan has made progress in its combat towards poliovirus in 2025, in line with an announcement issued by the polio eradication program.
Polio is a extremely infectious and incurable illness that may trigger lifelong paralysis. The one efficient safety is thru repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine for each little one underneath 5 throughout every marketing campaign, together with the well timed completion of all important immunizations.
“Through the 12 months, six polio vaccination campaigns had been performed, together with 5 nationwide drives. Because of this, reported polio instances dropped sharply from 74 in 2024 to 30 in 2025, with no new instances reported wherever within the nation since September,” the assertion stated.
Nonetheless, a polio skilled, wishing to stay nameless, stated that it was the tendency of the virus to stay recessive for some years after which bounce again.
“It’s appropriate that Pakistan reported 74 instances in 2024 and the variety of instances declined to 30 in the course of the ongoing 12 months,” he stated. “Nonetheless, solely six instances had been reported in 2023 whereas as many as 20 instances had been reported in 2022.”
Moreover, he added that though the 12 months was nearly full, there was a risk that the variety of instances could additional improve, because it took nearly three weeks to substantiate {that a} little one was paralyzed because of polio or for another purpose.
“Within the lab, we get nearly 4,000 samples from paralyzed kids yearly for testing. So by the top of January, we will probably be able to substantiate the variety of instances for 2025,” the skilled stated.
It’s price mentioning that the goal for the final nationwide polio marketing campaign was to vaccinate 45.4 million kids underneath the age of 5. Nonetheless, a complete of 44.6m kids had been vaccinated as refusals had been reported from throughout the nation.
The assertion issued by the polio program stated that though the variety of polio instances continued to say no, Pakistan’s unwavering combat towards the illness would persist till full eradication was achieved. The virus, nonetheless, continues to flow into in sure high-risk areas, making sustained vigilance essential.
Focused interventions, strong group engagement, and ongoing vaccination efforts stay important to succeed in each lacking little one and forestall any resurgence. Frontline well being staff, safety personnel, and native authorities proceed to work in shut coordination to keep up excessive immunity ranges and be sure that Pakistan stays on the right track in direction of changing into polio-free, it stated.
These beneficial properties had been additional strengthened throughout the latest nationwide polio vaccination marketing campaign, performed from December 15-21. The marketing campaign achieved over 98 p.c protection on the nationwide stage, with robust provincial-level efficiency throughout all 4 provinces, in addition to in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Islamabad.
In comparison with the earlier spherical, an 18pc discount in lacking kids was recorded, alongside notable enhancements in entry and operational efficiency, significantly in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“However, efforts will proceed till each unreached little one is protected,” the assertion added. Whereas these efforts have led to vital beneficial properties, the combat towards polio will proceed, he stated.
“Ongoing engagement with communities, spiritual leaders, civil society, and the media stays essential to strengthen belief, counter misinformation, and be sure that each little one is protected against polio,” the assertion stated.
It added that whereas localized entry challenges persevered, particularly in elements of southern KP, these gaps had been clearly recognized and had been being addressed by means of “focused, district-specific interventions”.
Enhanced microplanning, improved staff deployment, strengthened group engagement, and shut safety coordination stays central to those targeted efforts, it stated.
“Constructing on the progress achieved in 2025, Pakistan’s polio eradication program is intensifying focused efforts in 2026 to interrupt remaining virus transmission and transfer decisively in direction of eradication.
“With transmission now restricted, inhabitants immunity rising, and efficiency bettering in traditionally difficult areas, this system stays firmly on observe to safe a polio-free future for each little one in Pakistan,” the assertion stated.
Pakistan is among the final two international locations on this planet, alongside Afghanistan, the place polio stays endemic.
