Pakistan has recorded its ninth polio case of the year, in a child from Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The case was confirmed at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, where officials reviewed the country’s efforts to eradicate the disease. The update came as attacks on security personnel guarding vaccination teams and the kidnapping of polio workers drew attention to the dangers facing the campaign.
The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) had already confirmed a case from Khyber district on November 1. The prime minister was told on Thursday about another infection from the same district, which pushed the national total for this year to nine. Seven of those cases are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two are in Sindh.
Where the nine polio cases were reported
At the meeting, officials told the prime minister that Khyber and Bannu districts had each reported three cases, while North Waziristan had recorded one. The briefing said every case reported from Khyber district was linked to poliovirus circulating in Afghanistan. Sindh’s two cases came from Karachi East and Sujawal districts.
Officials also gave the following picture for other parts of the country:
- Punjab has reported no new case since February 2025.
- Balochistan recorded no cases in 2025 or in 2026.
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan were described as polio-free.
The briefing identified cross-border movement from Afghanistan as a major factor in the spread of the virus within Pakistan. Officials also reported a drop in the amount of poliovirus found in environmental samples in Sindh this year.
Shootings and kidnappings raise security concerns
The latest case follows a violent episode in Mohmand district on November 3. Police said two policemen protecting a polio vaccination team were killed and another was wounded in a shooting in the Dog Tamanzai area, as the officers were heading to provide security for the campaign. The injured officer was taken to hospital, and a search operation was launched to arrest those responsible.
On the same day, four polio workers were abducted at gunpoint from Sheikh Otar village in Tank district. In a separate incident, armed men took four members of a polio team in Tank. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the abduction and called for urgent steps to secure the workers’ safe return.
The incidents highlight the risks faced by vaccination teams and their security escorts. Such dangers are particularly present in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where attacks, abductions and the seizure of vaccination supplies have been reported.
Vaccination drive targets over 24 million children
A nationwide vaccination campaign that began on November 2 aims to immunise more than 24 million children under the age of five across 97 selected districts. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 4.8 million children in 27 districts are being targeted. The drive is scheduled to run until November 8.
The NEOC has urged parents to make sure all children under five receive oral polio vaccine doses during this round and in the rounds that follow. Officials told the prime minister that steps were being taken to strengthen security for vaccination teams and to ensure they can reach the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Shehbaz said he was concerned by the latest case and acknowledged that eliminating polio remained a major challenge. He added, however, that the government’s determination was stronger than ever. He called for a coordinated strategy involving provincial governments and all relevant stakeholders, and praised frontline vaccination workers and law enforcement personnel for their work.
The prime minister said the safety of vaccination workers and their uninterrupted access to children were among the government’s top priorities. He directed authorities to improve routine immunisation coverage, especially in areas hit by polio or judged to be at high risk. He also instructed the federal minister, the minister of state, the health secretary and members of the polio eradication team to visit all four provinces immediately and meet chief ministers and chief secretaries to review the campaign.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, National Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for National Health Services Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharth, and the prime minister’s focal person on polio eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, along with other officials.
