National Polio Eradication Campaign administers polio drops to over 43.7m children across Pakistan
A health worker administers anti-polio drops to a child during the launch of the citywide vaccination campaign, marking another crucial step in the fight to protect future generations from the crippling disease. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/EXPRESS
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, has confirmed a new case of wild poliovirus in District Torghar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. This is the second case from District Torghar this year.
Wild poliovirus (WPV1) was detected in a 12-month-old boy from Union Council Ghari, Torghar. With this detection, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 30, including 19 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The National Polio Eradication Campaign successfully administered polio drops to over 43.7 million children across Pakistan in the first six days, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).
Read: Polio drive reaches over 43.7 million children across Pakistan
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, stated, “protecting children from polio is a shared responsibility, and I urge all parents and caregivers to open their doors to vaccinators and ensure their children receive the lifesaving drops that protect them from a lifelong, paralyzing disease”.
The polio eradication campaign in South K-P started on October 20 and will end on October 23.
In September 2025, the Pakistan Polio Program collected 127 sewage samples from 87 districts across the country through its environmental surveillance network. Of these, 81 were found to be negative with no poliovirus detected, while 44 samples tested positive. Two samples are currently under process in the lab.
Of the total samples, Balochistan had 21 negative, 2 positive; Punjab had 22 negative, 8 positive, 1 under process; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had 24 negative, 10 positive; Sindh had 7 negative, 21 positive, 1 under process; Islamabad had 4 negative, 1 positive; Azad Jammu & Kashmir had 3 negative; and Gilgit-Baltistan had 1 negative, and 1 positive result.
Read more: Anti-polio drive misses on target
While the overall trend indicates a decline in positive detections, reflecting the impact of recent high-quality vaccination campaigns, virus circulation persists in certain high-risk areas. These detections highlight the continued need for strong, targeted efforts to interrupt transmission.
The nationwide effort saw a massive response from all regions. In Punjab, more than 23 million children were vaccinated, while Sindh protected over 10.4 million. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded over 6.1 million vaccinations, and Balochistan inoculated over 2.58 million children.
The campaign also extended to the federal and regional territories. Islamabad administered drops to over 466,000 children, Azad Jammu and Kashmir to over 733,000, and Gilgit-Baltistan to approximately 294,000 children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the overall performance of the polio campaign satisfactory, noting a significant improvement in the coverage of previously missed children.
Thank you Pakistan for reaffirming at #EMR72 that the country “stands ready to work with all member states and WHO to build a climate-resilient, low-carbon and equitable health future for all.” @WHO stands with Pakistan to tackle together climate-driven public health threats. pic.twitter.com/lRfC4cKkP1
— WHO Pakistan (@WHOPakistan) October 17, 2025
Authorities have reiterated that protecting the nation’s future from polio is a national responsibility. The NEOC emphasised the crucial role of parents and guardians, urging them to ensure every child under five receives these essential drops.
Also read: Pakistan launches polio drive targeting 45 million children: NEOC
Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, launched in 1994, has helped reduce the annual number of polio cases by 99.6%, from an estimated 20,000 annual cases to 74 in 2024 – and 29 so far this year, reported NEOC.
.@WHO Regional Committee EMRO:
PM’s Focal Person for Polio @AyeshaRaza13 highlighted that Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.6% since the 1990s & reminded us that “we have the historic opportunity to make paralytic polio the second disease to be eradicated worldwide.” #EMRC72 pic.twitter.com/2ZZ3WN8bbE— WHO Pakistan (@WHOPakistan) October 15, 2025
The Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative, NEOC and partners, launched a week-long polio vaccination campaign on October 13 to vaccinate over 45 million children in 159 districts across the country as part of ongoing efforts to protect all children from paralytic polio.
NEOC mobilised over 400,000 trained vaccinators for the fourth national polio campaign this year. Though the campaign will end Today across all other parts of the country, it will run from October 20 to 23 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Since last week, @WHO, along with partners, has mobilized over 400,000 vaccinators to support @GovtofPakistan in the ongoing campaign to protect 45M children from paralytic polio.These frontliners have been key to reduce polio cases by 99.6% since 1994.Together we can #EndPolio pic.twitter.com/1PravmXepx
— WHO Pakistan (@WHOPakistan) October 20, 2025
The campaign came at a critical time when poliovirus resurgence affected 29 children so far this year. Moreover, recent widespread flooding across Pakistan has disrupted sanitation systems, displaced families, and hindered health services for affected populations, increasing the risk of poliovirus transmission due to stagnant water and moving populations.
Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) for every child under the age of five during each vaccination campaign, along with the timely completion of all routine immunizations.
