Pakistan has reported a total of 26 poliovirus cases in 2024, following the confirmation of two new cases in Karachi and Sujawal, Sindh, on Tuesday. One case was identified in the Karachi East district, while the other was found in Sujawal, raising the nationwide count for the year.
The breakdown of the reported cases includes 15 from Balochistan, seven from Sindh, two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and the federal capital, Islamabad.
Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, emphasized the importance of vaccination, stating, “No child anywhere is safe until all children in Pakistan are repeatedly vaccinated for polio, building a wall of protection so the virus cannot break through.”
In response to the ongoing situation, the Pakistan polio program is implementing a strategic roadmap aimed at controlling the spread of the virus and interrupting its transmission by mid-2025.
Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif celebrated the successful elimination of trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that can cause irreversible blindness if untreated. With this achievement, Pakistan has become the 19th country globally to eradicate the infectious disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Despite these advancements, Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains one of the last polio-endemic countries in the world. Since late 2018, the country has experienced a resurgence of poliovirus cases, underscoring the vulnerability of the progress made in previous years.
