ISLAMABAD – Anti-polio officials have briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that only one polio case has been reported in Pakistan so far in 2026, from the district of Sajawal.
According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office, a high-level review meeting on polio eradication was held in Islamabad, chaired by the Prime Minister, where officials updated participants on ongoing anti-polio efforts.
The briefing noted that in 2024, Pakistan reported 74 polio cases, while in 2025 the number dropped to 31 cases. In 2026 so far, no cases have been reported from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, or Azad Jammu and Kashmir, except for one case from Sajawal.
Officials further informed the meeting that 67 districts were affected by polio in the first quarter of 2025, which has now reduced to 23 districts in the first quarter of 2026. Nationwide household vaccination coverage has remained at 98% across all anti-polio campaigns.
Improvements in access and vaccination efforts in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reduced the number of children missing polio drops, while a significant decline in local virus transmission has been observed in the Quetta block.
In Karachi, 10 out of 12 environmental samples tested in March showed no presence of the poliovirus, indicating positive progress.
The meeting was also informed that no polio case has been reported in Dera Ismail Khan since September 2025, while in Bannu, the number of highly affected union councils has decreased from 62 to 6.
Officials also said that efforts are underway to integrate and align the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) at federal and provincial levels, and to link the Benazir Income Support Programme with anti-polio campaigns through conditional measures.
