In a follow-up on the wild poliovirus (WPV1) situation in Pakistan this year, health authorities have reported three additional cases in the past week, bringing the country total to 29.
On September 22, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed a polio case in District Hyderabad, Sindh.
Today, two additional cases were confirmed in Sindh-one from District Badin and the other from District Thatta.
The 29 cases reported to date have been distributed as follows: 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication conducted a Sub-National Polio Vaccination Campaign in September 2025 across 88 districts of the country, including Badin and Thatta. The campaign successfully reached nearly 21 million children under the age of five.
The next nationwide polio vaccination campaign will be held from 13 - 19 October 2025, aiming to protect around 45.4 million children under the age of five. During the campaign, Vitamin A will also be administered alongside Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to boost children’s immunity levels. More than 400,000 dedicated frontline workers will go door-to-door to ensure that every eligible child receives this essential protection.
These campaigns are aimed at rapidly boosting children’s immunity and strengthening protection as part of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to eradicate polio. Parents and caregivers are strongly encouraged to ensure that their children receive the vaccine in every campaign, as it remains the only reliable protection against lifelong disability.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. 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 immunizations.