Polio case from CM’s home district raises questions over KP government’s eradication strategy
PESHAWAR (APP): The detection of a fresh polio case in Khyber district, the home district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the provincial government’s strategy to eradicate the crippling disease, with health experts stressing that every new case represents a child left vulnerable to lifelong paralysis.
According to an official press release, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed a new case of wild poliovirus type-1 in Khyber district.
A seven-year-old child from Union Council Ghundai of Tehsil Jamrud has tested positive for the virus, taking the number of polio cases reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year to five and the nationwide tally to six, including one case from Sajawal district of Sindh.
The latest case has come despite repeated vaccination drives and renewed KP government claims of strengthening immunisation coverage in vulnerable districts, underscoring the persistent challenge of reaching every child and eliminating remaining pockets of virus circulation.
Three cases have previously been reported from Bannu and one from North Waziristan this year. Although the number of cases remains substantially lower this year than in previous years, health officials have cautioned that the continued detection of the virus means the threat remains active and sustained efforts cannot be relaxed.
Pakistan reported 31 wild poliovirus cases in 2025, including 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, compared with 74 cases nationwide in 2024.
Former health minister Zahir Ali Shah described the repeated emergence of polio cases in KP as alarming and urged Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to give the eradication programme immediate political and administrative attention.
“The children of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are becoming victims of a preventable disease while the Chief Minister KP is standing on container with an aimless long march,” he said, urging the provincial government to convene an emergency meeting of health officials and devise a comprehensive strategy to close vaccination gaps especially in Bannu, Waziristan and Khyber.
Paediatrician Dr Malik Riaz said polio was a highly contagious and irreversible disease that could permanently paralyse a child, stressing that vaccination remained the most effective means of protection.
“Polio can silently attack a child and permanently destroy his or her future. Oral polio vaccine is safe and remains one of the most important tools to protect children from paralysis,” he said.
Experts said misinformation, rumours, myths and negative propaganda against vaccination remained major obstacles, particularly in remote communities where literacy levels were low and access to reliable health information was limited.
They pointed to parts of Bannu, Waziristan and Khyber as areas requiring sustained community engagement, effective social mobilisation and uninterrupted vaccination activities.
The provincial government conducted a week-long anti-polio campaign from September 21 to 27, targeting around 7.3 million children across KP. Around 35,000 vaccination teams, assisted by security personnel and officials from relevant departments, participated in the campaign.
Special vaccination campaigns were conducted in Upper South Waziristan, Lower South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Bannu during the past three months in an effort to improve coverage in hard-to-reach areas.
Health officials said the province was simultaneously taking measures to strengthen healthcare delivery in vulnerable areas, including recruitment and deployment of 2,400 doctors, procurement of medicines and outsourcing management of 72 hospitals in remote areas. Patients at these facilities would continue to receive free treatment and vaccination services.
Health experts, however, stressed that routine immunisation must be closely integrated with supplementary polio campaigns, particularly in communities affected by population movement and migration.
Environmental surveillance has shown encouraging signs, with positive samples reportedly declining from 417 in 2025 to 124 between January and July 2026.
Recent immunisation campaigns also recorded reported coverage of 98 percent in February, 99 percent in April and 98 percent in May.
Despite the progress, officials cautioned that the remaining virus reservoirs, particularly in Bannu, Waziristan, Khyber and adjoining vulnerable border areas, demanded continued vigilance and repeated vaccination of all children under five.
To address vaccination gaps in border districts and southern districts, KP Govt needed to strengthen coordination with federal government that continues to focus on early detection, rapid response and reaching children who have been missed during vaccination campaigns.
The federal government has further increased remuneration for around 400,000 frontline polio workers, most of them women, by approximately 28 percent.
These workers continue to undertake door-to-door vaccination in difficult terrain and challenging security environments, particularly in the former tribal districts.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic, making every confirmed case in KP a serious public-health warning.
Experts urged the Chief Minister KP to immediately prioritise the polio emergency, convene a high-level meeting of provincial health authorities and ensure an inclusive, district-specific vaccination strategy, warning that complacency could allow the virus to regain ground.
They stressed that political priorities and public-health emergencies should not compete with each other, as the ultimate responsibility of the provincial government was to ensure that no child was left unprotected against a preventable disease capable of causing lifelong disability.
