Pakistan tells global watchdog polio eradication is within reach, insecurity in KP remains biggest hurdle

Lead

Pakistan has told the global Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) that the country has entered a decisive phase in its decades-long fight against polio, claiming the virus has been pushed into a shrinking number of high-risk areas but cautioning that persistent insecurity in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the biggest obstacle to reaching every child.

The IMB — an independent oversight body of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative — met from July 20 to 23 to assess global eradication efforts, with a particular focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan, the world’s only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic.

During a high-level review meeting of the IMB in Geneva, Pakistani officials claimed that the country’s strategy was delivering results, while acknowledging that failure to eliminate transmission from the remaining hotspots could jeopardise years of progress.

Coverage comparison

Reporting by Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language daily, covered the story from two angles. One report focused on the government’s presentation to the IMB, highlighting the political leadership and the whole-of-government approach. The other report centred on new environmental surveillance data, showing a significant decline in poliovirus detection in the first half of 2026, while also noting concerns about cross-border transmission from Afghanistan.

The first report quoted Minister of State for Health Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath and Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq. The second report relied on data released by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication, along with comments from government officials and a polio expert.

Both reports present an optimistic outlook regarding Pakistan’s progress, but they also reflect a cautious tone regarding the challenges that remain.

Key claims

Government presentation to the IMB

Pakistan informed the IMB that it had reduced polio cases by 99.8 per cent since the early 1990s, when an estimated 20,000 children were paralysed annually. Official figures show cases fell from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025, while only three cases have been reported so far in 2026.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Minister of State for Health Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath and included Ayesha Raza Farooq, the chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, NEOC Coordinator Muhammad Anwarul Haq and senior officials from the national polio programme.

According to an official statement, Dr Bharath told the board that the recent decline in virus transmission reflected stronger political leadership, improved accountability, data-driven decision-making and better quality vaccination campaigns.

“Over the past year, virus transmission has declined significantly,” he said, adding that the progress was encouraging but that Pakistan remained fully aware of the challenges ahead. He stressed that polio eradication is now a whole-of-government mission led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Environmental surveillance data

Pakistan has recorded a significant decline in the detection of poliovirus in environmental samples during the first six months of 2026, with the positivity rate dropping from 48.1 per cent during the same period last year to 13.1 per cent this year.

According to data released by the NEOC, 127 environmental samples were collected across the country during June 2026 as part of routine poliovirus surveillance. Of these, 117 tested negative, while 10 samples were confirmed positive.

The number of positive environmental samples detected between January and June also declined significantly, falling from 369 during the same period in 2025 to 100 this year.

The NEOC said the decline in environmental positivity reflected improvements in vaccination coverage and surveillance efforts, but stressed that sustained vigilance was essential to interrupt virus transmission.

Insecurity and cross-border concerns

Persistent insecurity in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the biggest obstacle to reaching every child, according to the Pakistani officials’ presentation to the IMB.

Ayesha Raza Farooq told Dawn that the improvement in environmental surveillance was the result of a new strategy involving external audits, better team selection, enhanced training and the support of law enforcement agencies.

However, a polio expert cautioned that unchecked cross-border movement from Afghanistan remained a major concern, as poliovirus strains linked to Kandahar and Nangarhar had been detected in environmental samples collected from Quetta and Peshawar, respectively.