- No polio case reported anywhere in country since September.
- No polio case reported in Balochistan and Punjab for over a year.
- Six nationwide anti-polio campaigns conducted during 2025.
Pakistan has recorded significant progress in its fight against polio, with the number of cases falling sharply in 2025, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).
Official data show that only 30 polio cases have been reported so far in 2025, compared with 74 cases recorded in 2024.
The NEOC said no new polio case has been reported anywhere in the country since September this year.
It further noted that no polio case has been reported in Balochistan and Punjab for more than a year, reflecting improved surveillance and sustained vaccination efforts in the two provinces.
As per the NEOC, six nationwide anti-polio campaigns were successfully conducted during 2025. In the most recent campaign, more than 98% of targeted children were vaccinated, the NEOC said, calling it a major achievement for frontline health workers operating in challenging conditions.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio is still endemic. Of the 30 cases reported so far this year, the highest number has been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with 19 cases.
In contrast, just six cases were reported nationwide in 2023, before the outbreak in 2024.
Health authorities have reiterated their determination to eliminate the virus from the country. Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Protection depends on repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine for every child under the age of five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of routine immunisation.
The Polio Eradication Initiative has intensified its operations to ensure comprehensive coverage and high-quality vaccination campaigns, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable areas. The National Task Force has approved the 2025–26 roadmap, which focuses on halting virus transmission through multiple supplementary immunisation activities and by strengthening routine immunisation services.
Polio once paralysed nearly 1,000 children every day across more than 125 countries. If eradicated, it would become only the second human disease to be eliminated globally after smallpox and could save the world more than 33 billion dollars by 2100, according to global health estimates.
