ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan has recorded its 50th polio case of the year, with the latest victim being a 20-month-old girl from Mullazai Union Council in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district.

An official from the Re­g­io­nal Reference Labo­r­a­tory for Polio Eradica­tion at the National Insti­tute of Health, Islamabad, confirmed the detection of the wild poliovirus (WPV1) in the child.

“Genetic sequencing of the virus isolated from the collected samples indicates it is genetically linked to WPV1 detected in the same district in July,” the official said.

This is the second case reported in the Tank district this year. Nationwide, the total stands at 50, with 24 cases reported from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 11 from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

“Tank is one of the polio-endemic districts of southern KP, having rep­orted multiple positive env­ironmental samples this year as well as two confirmed cases,” the official noted. “This indicates that poliovirus circulation remains a significant threat to children.”

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic.

Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024