A health worker administers a polio booster dose to a student through a needle-free jet injector during the launch of an anti-polio vaccination campaign at a school. The initiative aims to strengthen immunisation coverage among children using modern, less invasive vaccination technology. PHOTO: JALAL QURESHI/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
A fifth polio case of the year has been confirmed in Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday.
Four of the five polio cases reported in Pakistan this year have been detected in Bannu division, including three in Bannu district. The latest case involves a 17-month-old girl from Union Council Khandar Khankhel in Domel tehsil of Bannu district.
Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8% through vaccination, from an estimated 20,000 cases annually in the early 1990s to 31 cases in 2025 and five so far this year. While poliovirus transmission across the country has declined since 2025, the virus continues to circulate persistently in southern K-P, posing an ongoing threat to children in the region.
Health authorities said the latest case underscored the need to maintain robust surveillance and vaccination efforts across the country, stressing that children would remain at risk as long as the virus continued to circulate.
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Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis and, in some cases, death. However, it can be prevented through safe and effective vaccines, which have been used in 195 countries, including Muslim-majority countries.
Pakistan has conducted four large-scale polio vaccination campaigns in 2026, reaching more than 45 million children on multiple occasions. These efforts have been supplemented by smaller, targeted oral and injectable vaccination drives in high-risk areas.
Last week, a subnational vaccination campaign reached more than 28 million children across the country. However, continued detection of the virus indicates that the risk to children persists, particularly in areas where transmission remains entrenched.
Polio eradication authorities stressed that eliminating the disease required a collective effort. Frontline workers continue to deliver vaccines to children at their doorsteps, while parents and caregivers have been urged to ensure that children receive all recommended doses, including those provided through routine immunisation.
