ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s polio tally for 2025 has risen to 31 after wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was confirmed in a four-month-old girl from Union Council Spinwam-2 in North Waziristan.
The poliovirus confirmation once again highlighted continued circulation of virus in high-risk areas of country.
Health officials said the child developed symptoms in December, and laboratory tests completed this week confirmed her samples positive for WPV1.
As the onset of paralysis occurred in 2025, the case has been added to last year’s total and is not counted as a 2026 infection, despite laboratory confirmation being made this month.
North Waziristan remains Pakistan’s primary polio hotspot. The district alone reported five cases in 2025, while southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounted for 17 of 31 cases recorded nationwide.
Overall, 20 cases were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last year, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Polio officials say persistent security challenges and access constraints in parts of southern KP have allowed virus to survive. Vaccination teams have struggled to reach every household in areas such as North Waziristan, leaving thousands of children unvaccinated or under-vaccinated and creating immunity gaps that enable paralysing virus to continue circulating.
Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative has been working to close these gaps through a combination of house-to-house vaccination and community-based approaches. In high-risk districts, local elders, religious leaders and other community influencers are being engaged. Families are also being offered routine immunisation and nutrition services to improve overall child health and acceptance of vaccines.
Despite the setbacks, health authorities say progress has been made. Positive poliovirus detections declined in 2025 compared to 2024, reflecting impact of improved vaccination campaigns. However, latest case from North Waziristan underscores how quickly virus can resurface when children are missed.
Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Repeated doses of oral polio vaccine for every child under five, along with completion of routine immunisation, remain only effective protection.
With the virus still entrenched in a few high-risk districts, National Task Force on Polio has approved a 2025–26 roadmap calling for frequent nationwide campaigns and stronger routine immunisation. Under this plan, first nationwide polio drive of 2026 will be held from February 2 to 8, targeting more than 45 million children, including those in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Health officials say these back-to-back campaigns aim to rapidly boost immunity and break remaining chains of transmission. Parents are being urged to ensure their children receive vaccine every time teams visit, even if they have already been vaccinated.
“Every missed child keeps the virus alive”, one official warned, stressing eradication will remain out of reach unless families cooperate with vaccination teams.
