ISLAMABAD: After a significant rise in polio cases last year, which totalled 73, the country has reported its first case of polio for 2025.

The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Era­d­i­cation at the National Ins­titute of Health confirmed the case in a 45-month-old male child from Dera Ism­ail Khan in Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa. As the sample was collected on Jan 7, the case has been placed in the list of year 2025.

According to an official from the lab, D.I. Khan had reported 11 polio cases in 2024.

In total, 73 polio cases were reported across the country last year — 27 in Balochistan, 22 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22 in Sindh and one each in Punjab and Islamabad.

Polio is a paralytic disease with no cure. To protect children from this debilitating illness, multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, along with completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under five, are essential.

The Pakistan Polio Pro­g­ramme conducts several mass vaccination campai­gns throughout the year, bringing vaccines directly to children’s doorsteps, while the Expanded Progr­a­mme on Immunisation offers free vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases at health facilities.

The first nationwide polio vaccination campa­ign of 2025 is scheduled for February 3-9. It is crucial for parents to ensure that all children under five are vaccinated to keep them pro­tected from the disease, the official emphasised.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2025