PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s fight against polio has suffered another blow with the confirmation of a new case in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), bringing the country’s total for 2025 to 24.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed on Monday that a 20-month-old girl from Union Council Ping A in Tank district had contracted the virus.
This latest case raises the nationwide count to 24 for the year, including 16 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan. Health officials said the affected child belongs to the Bettani tribe and lives in Tehsil Jandola, one of the most security-challenged areas where vaccination campaigns face severe restrictions.
The girl has no travel history, indicating ongoing local circulation of the virus in communities where immunisation is limited. Laboratory analysis to determine the genetic cluster of the virus is still pending.
This marks the 14th polio case from southern KP this year, underlining the persistent difficulties in eradicating the disease from the region. Officials at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) described the development as “alarming but not unexpected,” citing repeated challenges in reaching children for vaccination in districts like Tank, North and South Waziristan, and neighboring tribal areas.
“Security-compromised districts remain the biggest obstacle in stopping polio transmission. These areas allow the virus to persist and spread, threatening the wider country,” an official said.
A nationwide anti-polio campaign began on Monday, targeting over 28 million children under five across 99 districts, according to the National Polio Eradication Programme. Over 240,000 polio workers are participating, covering Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the federal capital.
In KP, the provincial Health Department said the first phase of the campaign has started in 19 districts, aiming to vaccinate more than 5.7 million children, with the second phase scheduled to begin on September 15.
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