Pakistan confirms its first polio case of 2026, highlighting the urgent need for continued vaccination efforts to eradicate the crippling disease and protect vulnerable children.
Key Points
- Pakistan reports its first polio case of 2026 in a four-year-old child from the Sujawal district in Sindh.
- The Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) is assessing the situation to prevent further polio transmission in Pakistan.
- Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, remains one of the last polio-endemic countries globally, facing challenges in eradication.
- Nationwide polio campaigns are ongoing in Pakistan, targeting millions of children with oral polio vaccine (OPV).
- Polio is a highly infectious disease causing lifelong paralysis, preventable only through repeated vaccination doses.
Pakistan on Thursday reported its first case of poliovirus infection this year, with health authorities warning that the crippling disease remains a threat.
The National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) confirmed the infection in a four-year-old child from Sujawal district in Sindh, according to an official statement.
"The case was reported through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad," it said.
The Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) is assessing the best response to prevent further transmission, the statement added.
It said the crippling disease remains a threat, but its eradication is "within reach".
Polio Eradication Challenges in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.
Since 1994, Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8 per cent, from 20,000 cases annually in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025.
Ongoing Vaccination Campaigns
In 2026, Pakistan has already conducted a nationwide polio campaign that covered over 45 million children, while the next national campaign is scheduled for April.
In 2025, the PEI carried out five nationwide campaigns, in addition to targeted rounds of oral and injectable polio vaccination and integrated activities with the national routine immunisation programme.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis, and the only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) for every child under the age of five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of all routine immunisations.
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