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How far is victory in the fight against polio in Pakistan?

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How far is victory in the fight against polio in Pakistan?
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    1. Researcher

      Polio remains a formidable challenge in Pakistan—with the virus still active in 2025—despite significant declines in recent years. Here's a detailed update on where things stand: 📉 Current Status: Progress and Setbacks In 2024, Pakistan recorded 74 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). So far in 2Read more

      Polio remains a formidable challenge in Pakistan—with the virus still active in 2025—despite significant declines in recent years. Here’s a detailed update on where things stand:

      📉 Current Status: Progress and Setbacks

      • In 2024, Pakistan recorded 74 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). So far in 2025, 13 confirmed cases, including the latest from Gilgit‑Baltistan, bring the total to 13 by late July. That’s a modest drop from prior years, but far from elimination (Devdiscourse, Endpolio).
      • Pakistan accounted for 18 of the 20 global WPV1 cases reported through early August 2025—Afghanistan had only 2 cases—underscoring Pakistan’s continued status as one of the last two endemic countries (Wikipedia).
      • Environmental surveillance detected poliovirus in sewage samples from 20 districts, including major urban centers. This reflects ongoing virus presence even where symptomatic cases are few (Wikipedia).

      🏥 What’s Behind the Persistent Transmission?

      • The resurgence began in mid‑2023, first in sewage surveillance and later in paralyzing cases. It’s focused in core reservoir areas: Karachi, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Quetta block, and now Gilgit‑Baltistan (who.int).
      • Factors include low coverage in difficult-to-access regions, vaccine refusals (over 60,000 refusals recorded during an April 2025 campaign), campaign gaps, and security threats to health workers from local militant groups (Wikipedia).
      • Internal program weaknesses—falsified records, untrained vaccination staff, and continued reliance on oral polio vaccine despite its known limitations—have also been flagged by WHO and independent reports (apnews.com).

      🚀 Government Response & Immunization Campaigns

      • Pakistan launched its third nationwide polio campaign of 2025 in May, targeting over 45 million children under five with oral vaccine and Vitamin A supplementation (Endpolio).
      • The government reports a 99% target coverage in recent campaigns, with improved coordination and IT monitoring, supported by federal leadership and high-level engagement by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Endpolio, Dawn, nation.com.pk).

      🎯 How Close Is Pakistan to Eradication?

      • Although Pakistan has seen over a 99% reduction in cases compared to peak years, the 2025 target for eradication is unlikely to be met. Experts now see 2029 as the earliest realistic certification year for eradication, aligning with WHO’s global timeline (Dawn, ABC, reuters.com, Wikipedia).
      • Continued access barriers, rising vaccine hesitancy in urban centers, and cross-border population movement with Afghanistan continue to pose high risks to progress (Wikipedia, Reddit).

      ✅ Bottom Line: Where Pakistan Stands

      Aspect Status
      Reported cases (2025) 13 confirmed WPV1 cases
      Environmental detections Virus found in sewage across 20 districts
      Transmission hotspots Karachi, KP, Quetta Block, Gilgit‑Baltistan
      Campaign strength Multiple national rounds, high coverage
      Major challenges Vaccine refusals, insecurity, program gaps
      Eradication timeline Likely delay to 2029

      Pakistan has made remarkable gains, but wild polio persists. Without closing immunity gaps in underserved communities and reforming surveillance and campaign quality, eradication remains elusive. The country is in a critical final phase—where every missed child matters.

      Would you like to explore interventions tackling vaccine hesitancy, or how cross-border coordination with Afghanistan is being managed?

       

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    3. Researcher

      اپریل 2019 میں پشاور میں پولیو مہم کے بارے میں افواہوں کے نتیجے میں افراتفری پھیلی

      اپریل 2019 میں پشاور میں پولیو مہم کے بارے میں افواہوں کے نتیجے میں افراتفری پھیلی

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