KARACHI:
The Nationwide Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) on Thursday confirmed Pakistan’s first wild polio case of 2026 in a four-year-old little one from Sujawal district in Sindh.
The case was reported via the polio surveillance community and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication on the Nationwide Institute of Well being (NIH), Islamabad. The Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) is assessing the very best response to stop additional transmission.
Since 1994, Pakistan has decreased polio instances by 99.8%, from an estimated 20,000 instances within the early Nineties to 31 instances in 2025, due to widespread vaccination efforts. In 2026, over 45 million youngsters have been reached via a nationwide polio marketing campaign, with the subsequent nationwide drive deliberate for April.
In 2025, the PEI performed 5 nationwide campaigns together with focused vaccination rounds and routine immunisation integration.
Whereas general detections have declined in comparison with 2024, virus circulation persists in high-risk districts of Sindh and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting the necessity for continued, focused vaccination campaigns.
Learn: Why 40000 Karachi households refused the polio vaccine
Polio is a extremely contagious illness that may trigger lifelong paralysis and demise however is preventable via secure and efficient vaccines utilized in 195 international locations, together with all Muslim-majority nations.
Wild poliovirus is the naturally occurring type of the polio virus that spreads from individual to individual, primarily via contaminated meals, water, or contact with contaminated people. It might probably assault the nervous system and, in extreme instances, trigger everlasting paralysis or demise. A wild polio case refers to an an infection attributable to this naturally circulating virus, versus uncommon instances linked to vaccine-derived strains.
The PEI urged mother and father and caregivers to make sure youngsters obtain all beneficial doses and referred to as on communities, non secular leaders, and the media to advertise vaccination and counter misinformation.
“Eradicating polio is inside attain, however it requires collective effort. Each little one should be vaccinated to stop incapacity and demise,” the PEI mentioned, emphasising the continued dedication to a polio-free Pakistan and world.
