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3 clusters · 4 sources · 18 days · First seen · Last updated

Pakistan polio eradication progress

Overview

In the first half of 2026, Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center reported a sharp decline in environmental poliovirus detection, with positivity falling from 48.1% a year earlier to 13.1% across 127 samples. Only ten samples tested positive, with negative results recorded in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. The country has confirmed three polio cases so far in 2026, continuing a long-term reduction from an estimated 20,000 cases in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025.

WHO Regional Director Dr. Hanan Balkhy emphasized that the nation has a “genuine opportunity” to stop wild-polio transmission within the next six to twelve months. To map final eradication steps, high-level officials—including the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for Health—met with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Independent Monitoring Board. While transmission is largely confined to hard-to-reach areas of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, surveillance now covers more than 12,500 acute flaccid paralysis reporting sites.

To combat remaining risks, a four-day vaccination campaign was launched in August 2026, targeting approximately 1.04 million children across 170 high-risk union councils in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Despite a 99.8% reduction in cases since 1994, officials noted that vaccine refusal, misinformation, and security threats to health workers continue to challenge eradication efforts in regions such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Entities

Ayesha Raza Farooq · Pakistan · Polio Oversight Board · Islamabad · Shehbaz Sharif

Timeline

  1. 10 days ago

    [HEALTH] 2 sources
    Pakistan launches polio vaccination drive for 1 million children

    Pakistan has launched a four-day vaccination campaign targeting over one million children in high-risk areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to combat the spread of wild poliovirus.

  2. 24 days ago

    [HEALTH] 2 sources
    Pakistan aims to interrupt polio transmission within 12 months

    WHO says Pakistan can halt polio within 12 months as cases fall 99.8% to three in 2026; final push focuses on hard‑to‑reach Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

  3. 28 days ago

    [HEALTH] 2 sources
    Pakistan’s polio environmental positivity rate falls to 13.1% in early 2026

    Pakistan’s polio environmental positivity rate fell to 13.1% in the first half of 2026, with 117 of 127 June samples negative and three cases reported, marking continued progress toward eradication.

Sources

arabnews.pk · bolnews.com · thefrontierpost.com · time.news

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history