Pakistan’s fight against polio shows significant progress as the government ramps up vaccination efforts, enhances frontline worker support, and aims to eliminate the virus by 2026, despite ongoing challenges in high-risk areas.
Pakistan says it is close to breaking the chain of polio transmission, with the government’s top eradication official arguing that a mix of faster detection, stronger response and wider vaccination coverage is pushing the country towards elimination. Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person for polio eradication, said almost all of Pakistan should be cleared of circulating virus in 2026, with a stubborn pocket in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa targeted for elimination by mid-2027.
Farooq made the remarks while briefing health journalists in Peshawar ahead of a new sub-national immunisation drive set for 21-27 September. The campaign is due to reach 31 million children under five in 115 high-risk districts, with officials saying the effort will focus on missed children, including nomadic and migrant families, and will be aligned with vaccination activity in Afghanistan.
The government says the broader campaign has been gaining ground over the past year. Pakistan’s polio programme reported a sharp fall in environmental detections of the virus, from 417 in 2025 to 124 in the first seven months of 2026, while recent vaccination rounds recorded coverage of 98% in February, 99% in April and 98% in May. Officials also say reported cases have fallen from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025 and to four so far this year, underscoring what they describe as sustained progress against a disease that can cause permanent paralysis.
Farooq also pointed to operational changes meant to support the campaign, including a roughly 28% rise in payments for about 400,000 frontline workers, most of them women. The programme has faced recurring difficulties in parts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because of security concerns, and officials said a new strategy has been drawn up to improve coverage in communities that have repeatedly been missed. The authorities are also using fractional-dose inactivated polio vaccine in some areas of Sindh and Balochistan to boost immunity in districts where surveillance has found the virus.
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