Published on: August 19, 2025 5:45 AM
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed two new cases of polio in Pakistan, climbing the countrywide tally to 21 this year.
According to the official of Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication, one case was reported from district Kohistan Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the other from district Badin, Sindh.
The latest cases involve a 72-month-old girl from Union Council Pattan in District Kohistan Lower and a 21-month-old girl from Union Council Matli-2 in District Badin.
With these detections, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 21 with 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said that 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 five during each campaign, alongside timely completion of all routine immunizations.
He said that despite significant progress, the continued detection of polio cases shows that children remain at risk in areas with low vaccine acceptance.
