ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts face fresh challenges as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed the presence of poliovirus in 42 out of 117 sewage samples collected from 87 districts nationwide in July — nearly 36% of samples — a slight uptick from June’s 32%.
Despite the increase, officials say the overall trend remains encouraging, reflecting the impact of sustained, high-quality vaccination campaigns. “While detections persist in certain areas, the data shows steady progress in containment,” the NIH stated.
Provincial Breakdown
Sindh reported the highest number of positive environmental samples, with 19 out of 29 testing positive. Punjab followed with 12 positives, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) detected the virus in seven out of 34 samples — the same as June but down sharply from 14 in January.
Balochistan saw a major drop to just one positive sample from four last month, and Islamabad reported three out of four samples positive. All samples from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir tested negative.
Case Count and Trends
As of August 2025, Pakistan has recorded 19 confirmed polio cases this year — 12 from KP, five from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan — compared to at least 71 cases in 2024, when the virus was detected in about 90 districts.
Over the past year, the Pakistan Polio Programme has carried out six major vaccination campaigns, four of them nationwide, aiming to immunize over 45 million children. These efforts have significantly reduced both the number of cases and the proportion of positive environmental samples.
Next Steps
The next sub-national polio vaccination campaign will run from September 1–7, targeting 28 million children across 91 districts in all provinces and regions. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has pledged to intensify eradication efforts with the support of international, provincial, and local partners.
Polio is a highly contagious and incurable viral disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. Health authorities stress that repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) for every child under five during each campaign are the only reliable protection against the disease.
