KARACHI: Pakistani health authorities confirmed this year’s first polio case on Wednesday from the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, amid Islamabad’s attempts to stem the spread of the disease.
Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, along with completing the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are crucial to provide children with strong immunity against the disease.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed that this year’s first case was reported from the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district of the province. Last year, the South Asian country reported 73 polio cases countrywide.
“On Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, the lab confirmed one polio case from D.I. Khan,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program said in a statement. “D.I. Khan is one of the districts of South KP having 11 polio cases in 2024.”
Giving a breakdown of the 73 polio cases in 2024, the program said 27 were reported from southwestern Balochistan, 22 from KP, 22 from southern Sindh, and one each from the eastern Punjab province and the capital city of Islamabad.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains one of the last two polio-endemic countries in the world. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually, but by 2018, the number had dropped to just eight cases. Only six cases were reported in 2023, and one in 2021.
However, Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts have faced several challenges in recent years, including attacks by militants and misinformation spread by religious hard-liners.
The Pakistan polio program is scheduled to hold the country’s first nationwide vaccination drive of this year from Feb. 3 to Feb. 9.
Pakistan reports first polio case of 2025 from country’s northwest
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Pakistan reports first polio case of 2025 from country’s northwest
- Pakistan last year suffered from a surge in polio cases, reporting 73 infections countrywide
- South Asian country will hold first nationwide vaccination drive of this year from February 3
Pakistan FM discusses regional situation with Saudi counterpart, urges restraint and dialogue
- This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken since the Arab Coalition targeted weapon shipments on Yemen’s Mukalla port
- Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to ‘discuss just solutions to southern cause’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, discussed the regional situation with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and called for restraint and dialogue to resolve issues, the Pakistani foreign office said late Friday, amid tensions prevailing over Yemen.
This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken this week since the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen carried out a “limited” airstrike on Dec. 30, targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and military equipment sent from the Emirati port of Fujairah to Mukalla in southern Yemen.
A coalition forces spokesperson said the weapons were meant to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Yemen’s Hadramaut and Al-Mahra “with the aim of fueling the conflict.” The UAE has since announced withdrawal of its remaining troops from Yemen, rejecting any actions that could threaten the Kingdom or undermine regional stability.
In their telephonic conversation late Friday, the Pakistani and Saudi foreign ministers discussed the latest situation in the region, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“FM [Dar] stressed that all concerned in the region must avoid any escalatory move and advised to resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy for the sake of regional peace and stability,” it added.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to “discuss just solutions to the southern cause.”
The ministry statement said the conference in the Saudi capital had been requested by Rashad Al-Alimi, President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, and the Kingdom urged all factions to participate “to develop a comprehensive vision” that would fulfill the aspirations of the southern people.
Disregarding previous agreements with the Arab Coalition, the STC separatist group launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. It also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.
The advance has raised the spectre of the return of South Yemen, a separate state from 1967 to 1990, while dealing a hammer-blow to slow-moving peace negotiations with Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia said the STC action poses a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security, and regional stability. The Kingdom has reiterated the only way to bring the southern cause to a resolution is through dialogue.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign office expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to the Kingdom’s security, amid rising tensions in Yemen.
“Pakistan expresses complete solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reaffirms its commitment to security of the Kingdom,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly news briefing.
“Pakistan maintains its firm support for the resolution of Yemen issue through dialogue and diplomacy and hopes that Yemen’s people and regional powers work together toward inclusive and enduring settlement of the issue, safeguarding regional stability.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark defense pact in September last year, according to which aggression against one country will be treated as an attack against both. The pact signaled a push by both governments to formalize long-standing military ties into a binding security commitment.
