Pakistan reported two additional polio cases on Tuesday, raising the country’s 2024 polio count to 26. The newly confirmed cases come from Karachi East and Sujawal districts in Sindh, marking the first instances this year in those regions.
In Karachi East, an 84-month-old girl was paralyzed, while a 12-month-old boy from Tehsil Jati in Sujawal also succumbed to the virus. Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, expressed deep concern, stressing that polio can be prevented through vaccinations.
Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme is focused on halting the virus by mid-2025, with strategic plans to reach high-risk areas. So far in 2024, 15 cases have been reported from Balochistan, seven from Sindh, two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. A mass vaccination drive targeting millions of children is set to resume on October 28.
