Pakistan recorded over 60,000 polio vaccine refusals during its nationwide anti-polio campaign conducted from April 21 to 27 this year, raising fresh concerns about the country’s ongoing struggle to eradicate the crippling disease, according to an ARY News report citing official sources.
The report revealed that 60,906 refusals were documented during the country’s second national polio eradication campaign of 2025. Sindh accounted for the highest number of rejections, with 39,073 cases—over 37,000 of them from Karachi alone. Balochistan followed with more than 3,500 refusal cases, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded a 0.4% refusal rate. Instances of parental resistance were also noted in Punjab and Islamabad.
This widespread reluctance to vaccinate children poses a major obstacle to Pakistan’s anti-polio efforts. The alarming figures come alongside the confirmation of a new polio case, bringing the total for 2025 to 13.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polio is a highly infectious viral disease that spreads primarily through the fecal-oral route and can lead to permanent paralysis or death. There is no cure for polio, but vaccination remains the most effective prevention. WHO emphasizes that multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) are essential for building strong immunity in children under five.
Despite years of sustained immunization drives, Pakistan remains one of only two polio-endemic countries, alongside Afghanistan. While the number of cases had seen a consistent decline, recent data indicates a worrying reversal in progress.
Health officials continue to face serious challenges in regions like southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where insecurity, access restrictions, and vaccine hesitancy hamper door-to-door vaccination efforts, leaving thousands of children unprotected.
Authorities are urging parents to cooperate with health workers and ensure their children receive the full course of vaccinations to eliminate polio from the country once and for all.
