• It’s the third case reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year.
• Latest anti-polio campaign aims to vaccinate over 45.4m children.
• Next nationwide polio inoculation drive to start from May 26, 2025.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed a new case of polio in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — the third from the province this year and the eighth reported across Pakistan as this year’s second inoculation drive is in full swing.

The confirmation comes just days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed during a review meeting that no new polio case had been reported since February 10, crediting the success to dedicated nationwide efforts.

Chairing the meeting on April 17, the prime minister had appreciated the work of government bodies, international organisations, and partners striving to make Pakistan polio-free.

Meanwhile, the latest polio eradication campaign launched this week aims to vaccinate over 45.4 million children under five, including over 2.6 million in Balochistan.

The second anti-polio drive of the year will run till April 27. The next nationwide drive will be held from May 26 to June 1.

Health officials have urged parents to ensure their children are repeatedly vaccinated against polio to prevent lifelong disability.

Vaccination hit by violence

In Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan — the only countries where polio remains endemic — militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.

Gunmen killed two police officers guarding polio vaccinators in the turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said on Wednesday, the second attack since the launch of a nationwide inoculation drive.

The officers were guarding health workers in the Teeri area of Mastung district when they were attacked by two motorcyclists, local administrator Manan Tareen told AFP.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes days after a policeman was killed in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Over the past decade, hundreds of police officers and health workers have been killed by militants waging an offensive against the Pakistani state.

Denouncing the attack, PM Shehbaz vowed that the vaccinations would continue “with full force”.

Polio, a highly infectious virus mainly affecting children under five, can result in lifelong paralysis but is easily prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of a vaccine.

The country recorded a surge in polio cases last year, with 74 infections reported, compared to just six in 2023. So far this year, seven cases have been recorded.

The US orchestration of a fake vaccination campaign in 2011 to track Osama bin Laden only sowed deeper mistrust.

In more recent years, militants’ attacks on police escorts have stymied vaccination efforts.

Last year, dozens of Pakistani officers who were accompanying medical teams went on strike after a string of deadly attacks.

Balochistan, which sits alongside Afghanistan, was the area with the largest number of polio cases in 2024, despite being the most sparsely populated.