ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has confirmed another case of poliovirus in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, health authorities said on Wednesday, identifying it as the last case of 2024, as it was detected last month, bringing the nationwide tally for the year to 69.
Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential to provide high immunity against the disease.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad confirmed the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in KP’s Tank district, marking the fifth case reported from the district in 2024.
“On Jan. 7, the lab confirmed a case from Tank,” the health ministry said in a statement. “Pakistan is responding to the resurgence of WPV1 [in 2024] with 69 cases reported so far.”
It said in a separate message it was counting the new case along with the ones that emerged last year since “it was isolated/detected in 2024 as per the control room.”
The Pakistan Polio Program organizes several mass vaccination campaigns annually, delivering the vaccine directly to people’s doorsteps.
On Jan. 6, Pakistan concluded a week-long anti-polio drive in southwestern Balochistan, which reported the highest tally of 27 cases last year.
The health ministry said the first nationwide polio campaign of this year is scheduled to take place from Feb. 3-9, urging the parents to ensure the safety of their children by welcoming the vaccinators.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies.
Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccination teams.
In the early 1990s, the country reported around 20,000 cases annually, but in 2018, the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
