Pakistan’s confirmed polio cases for 2025 reached 10, following the confirmation of the Regional Reference Laboratory of the National Institute of Health of two new cases of wild poliovirus in the districts of Lakki Marwat and Bannu of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Among these, five cases come from KP, four from Sindh and one from Punjab.
Despite the high -quality high -quality polios vaccination campaigns at the national level, the southern KP areas are faced with significant challenges, including limited access and difficulty performing home vaccinations, putting thousands of children in danger due to missed vaccinations.
In UC Bakhmal Ahmad Zai (Lakki Marwat), the children missed vaccinations during the February and April campaigns, creating immunity gaps, while UC Saintanga, Tehsil Wazir (Bannu), has not seen a complete campaign since October 2023.
Additional problems such as a shortage of female vaccinators and surveillance gaps have further expanded these immunity gaps.
The third vaccination campaign against the national polio of 2025 will start on May 26, targeting more than 45.4 million children under the age of five in 159 districts, including high -risk areas in southern KP.
