ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Tuesday that the nation was on a “strong path” toward polio eradication, after authorities conducted the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive of the year a few days earlier. 

Pakistani health authorities conducted the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination of 2025 from Dec. 15-21. The NEOC earlier this week said it had vaccinated a total of 44.6 million children under the age of five during the seven-day campaign across the country. 

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where transmission of the wild poliovirus has never been interrupted, posing a risk to global eradication efforts. The virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis, has no cure and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination.

“The NEOC reaffirms that Pakistan is on a strong path toward polio eradication,” the authority said in a statement. 

It noted that health volunteers vaccinated over 22.8 million children in Punjab, over 1 million in Sindh, over 7.1 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and over 2.5 million children in Balochistan during the campaign. 

In Islamabad, over 450,000 children were vaccinated while in Gilgit-Baltistan, over 274,000 children and in Azad Kashmir over 714,000 were given polio drops. 

The NEOC said Pakistan’s polio cases declined from 74 in 2024 to 30 in 2025, reflecting measurable progress compared to the previous year.

“No polio cases have been reported since September 2025, highlighting the remarkable progress achieved through consistent and comprehensive immunization efforts across the country,” it said. 

Health officials say insecurity remains a major obstacle. Polio workers and their security escorts have repeatedly been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in parts of KP and Balochistan, complicating efforts to reach every child.

A gun attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district on Dec. 16 left one police constable and a civilian dead.

Natural disasters, including flooding, have also disrupted vaccination campaigns in recent years.

“The NEOC calls upon all stakeholders, including parents, community leaders and health workers, to continue their active support,” the center said.