ISLAMABAD: Two more polio cases were confirmed in the country on Monday, taking this year’s tally up to 21.

The first case was found in Kohistan Lower district in KP and the other was traced in Badin district of Sindh according to Regional Reference Labo­ratory for Polio Erad­ication at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

“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, including 13 from Khyber Pakht­unk­hwa, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan,” an official of lab said.

“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 immunisations. Des­pite significant progress, the continued detection of polio cases shows that children remain at risk in areas with low vaccine acceptance,” he said.

From Sept 1 to 7, a polio vaccination campaign will be carried out to cover more than 28 million children under the age of five in 99 districts across all prov­inces and regions. However, in southern parts of KP, the drive will be conducted from Sept 15.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025