KARACHI: Health authorities have confirmed third case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) of this year in the southern province of Sindh, the country’s polio program said on Saturday.
The polio program said the latest polio case was confirmed in Larkana district, the second case reported in Sindh this year. Authorities earlier confirmed a polio case in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of 5 is essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.
Pakistan this month concluded its first nationwide anti-polio campaign of 2025, with 99 percent of the targets achieved, according to the polio program. The campaign, conducted on Feb. 3-9, vaccinated more than 45 million children.
“We urge parents and caregivers to actively participate in these campaigns and ensure that children receive polio vaccine,” the polio program said in a statement.
Pakistan witnessed an intense resurgence of polio virus last year, with a total of 74 cases reported nationwide. Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 23 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains an endemic.
Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain. In the early 1990s, Pakistan 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.
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 vaccine teams.
Pakistan reports third polio case of this year in southern Sindh province
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Pakistan reports third polio case of this year in southern Sindh province
- The latest polio case was reported in Larkana district, which is the second case in Sindh this year
- Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains an endemic
Pakistan finance chief calls for change to population-based revenue-sharing formula
- Muhammad Aurangzeb criticizes current NFC formula, says it is holding back development
- Minister says Pakistan to repay $1.3 billion debt in April as economic indicators improve
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday the country’s revenue-sharing formula between the federal and provincial governments “has to change,” arguing that allocating the bulk of funds on the basis of population was holding back long-term development.
The revenue-sharing is done under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award that determines how federally collected taxes are divided between the center and the provinces. Under the current formula, much of the distribution weight is based on population, with smaller weightages assigned to factors such as poverty, revenue generation and inverse population density.
“Under the NFC award, 82 percent allocation is done on the basis of population,” Aurangzeb said while addressing the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s regional office in Lahore. “This has to change. This is one area which is going to hold us back from realizing the full potential of this country.”
Economists and policy analysts have long suggested broadening the NFC criteria to give greater weight to tax effort, human development indicators and environmental risk, though any change would require political consensus among provinces, making reform politically sensitive.
Aurangzeb also highlighted the economic achievements of the country in recent years, saying Pakistan’s import cover had improved from roughly two weeks just a few years ago to about 2.5 months currently, adding that the government had repaid a $500 million Eurobond last year.
“The next repayment is of $1.3 billion in April,” he continued, adding that “we will pay these obligations, which are the obligations of Pakistan, as we go forward.”
The minister also noted that unlike in 2022, when devastating floods forced Pakistan to seek international pledges at a Geneva conference, the government did not issue an international appeal during more recent flooding, arguing that fiscal buffers had strengthened.
“This time, the prime minister and the cabinet decided that we do not need to go for international appeal because we have the means,” he said.
He reiterated the government was pursuing export-led growth to avoid repeating past boom-and-bust cycles driven by import-led expansion that quickly depleted foreign exchange reserves and pushed Pakistan back into International Monetary Fund programs.
