Peshawar (Salman Yousafzai)
A new case of polio has been reported in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The National Institute of Health has confirmed the new case.
According to the report, a new case of polio has been reported in a 33-month-old child who is a resident of Union Council Shamsi Khel, Bannu district.
This is the sixth polio case reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year. In total, 12 cases of polio have been reported across the country so far during 2025, of which 6 are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4 from Sindh, and one case each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Although efforts to eradicate polio are ongoing across the country and the quality of vaccination campaigns has improved, the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are still among the areas of concern.
Difficulties in door-to-door vaccination in these areas, barriers to access, and parental refusal deprive thousands of children of the polio vaccine, leaving them vulnerable to the virus.
In 2025, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program conducted three national campaigns in February, April and May, during which more than 45 million children were vaccinated. More than 400,000 field workers participated in these campaigns, including more than 225,000 women.
This progress is a reflection of effective coordination among all partner agencies and the trust of parents and the public, however, challenges faced in some areas, including southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, remain an obstacle to full vaccination coverage.
Polio is a dangerous, incurable and highly contagious disease that can disable affected children for life. The only effective way to prevent it is to repeatedly vaccinate children under the age of five in each campaign and complete all essential immunisations on time.
The Polio Eradication Program has appealed to parents and guardians to vaccinate their children in each campaign because each dose strengthens the children’s immunity and protects them from lifelong disabilities. The complete elimination of the virus is only possible with public cooperation and awareness.
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