WHO Declares Six‑Month Window to End Wild Polio Transmission in Pakistan

Overview

• The World Health Organization said the next six months are decisive for interrupting wild poliovirus in Pakistan and pledged continued technical and political support.
• Pakistan has recorded three wild poliovirus cases so far in 2026 with transmission largely concentrated in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Officials told monitors that Pakistan cut polio cases by 99.8% since the early 1990s, falling to 31 cases in 2025 as campaigns and surveillance improved.
• The eradication effort relies on roughly 400,000 polio workers—about 60% women—and one of the world’s largest surveillance networks with over 12,500 acute flaccid paralysis reporting sites and 127 environmental sampling locations.
• Insecurity that limits access to some communities and cross‑border movement with Afghanistan are the main operational risks, and international partners including the Polio Oversight Board, IMB, UNICEF, Gavi, the Gates Foundation and the CDC will continue close oversight and support.