Pakistan continues to face significant challenges in its fight against polio, with over 60,000 polio vaccine refusals reported during its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of 2025, conducted between April 21 and 27, according to a report by ARY News, citing official sources.
📊 Key Highlights:
- Total Refusals Nationwide: 60,906
- Highest Refusals: Sindh – 39,073 (over 37,000 in Karachi alone)
- Other Affected Areas:
- Balochistan: 3,500+
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP): 0.4% refusal rate
- Punjab & Islamabad: Scattered parental refusals
This surge in refusals coincides with the confirmation of another new polio case, bringing the total to 13 cases in 2025, threatening to reverse progress made in recent years. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two polio-endemic countries in the world.
🦠 Polio: A Persistent Threat
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio is a highly infectious virus spread primarily through the faecal-oral route and contaminated food or water. It mainly affects children under five, causing permanent paralysis or even death in severe cases.
While there is no cure, multiple doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) provide lifelong protection. Immunization campaigns are critical to achieving herd immunity and ultimately eradicating the virus.
🚨 Challenges:
- Misinformation and mistrust remain major obstacles, particularly in urban areas like Karachi and rural pockets of Balochistan and KP.
- Southern KP continues to be a hotspot for access-related issues and vaccine hesitancy, limiting coverage during house-to-house campaigns.
🗣️ Global Health Experts Urge Action:
Health authorities stress the urgency of addressing vaccine refusal, ramping up community engagement, and countering misinformation. Without strong public cooperation, experts warn that Pakistan risks becoming a reservoir for the virus and undermining global polio eradication goals.
As Pakistan intensifies its nationwide drives, overcoming resistance at the grassroots level will be critical to protecting future generations from this preventable disease.