Pakistan's polio tally rises to 67 with two new cases

Pakistan’s poliovirus tally for the current year rose to 67 after two more children were diagnosed with the crippling disease on Thursday.

Of the two new reported cases, one was reported in the Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the number of cases of this year in the province to 19.

While the other case was reported in the Kashmore district of Sindh, bringing the provincial tally to 19.

Balochistan has reported most cases — 27 —  in 2024 with Islamabad and Punjab reporting one child each with the crippling disease.

Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, and the number of cases on a yearly basis had significantly dropped in the country, until the recent spike in cases.

Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme explains that polio is a “paralysing” disease with “no cure” and “the completion of the routine vaccination for all children under the age of five” just provides them “high immunity against this terrible disease”.

The country has launched multiple vaccination drives including the one that kicked off last week which aims to inoculate about 44 million children across the country.

According to Prime Minister's Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq, around 400,000 polio workers across 143 districts of the country will visit every household to administer polio drops to children below five years.

However, the country's rigorous efforts towards polio eradication face significant challenges, particularly in areas where insecurity, misinformation, and parental refusals hinder vaccination campaigns.

With over 60% of children affected by polio in 2024 having not received routine immunisation, health authorities established a high-level committee to improve coordination between the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).