Another polio case was reported in Pakistan on Thursday by the National Institute of Health (NIH), taking the total number of cases pf 2024 to 73. 

The newest case was confirmed in Sindh’s Thatta today, marking the district’s first case, although the samples for testing were collected last year.

So far, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have confirmed 22 cases each of the disabling disease with Balochistan being the worst-hit with 27 cases. Punjab and Islamabad have reported just one case each, according to the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC).

On Wednesday, a polio case was detected in Dera Ismail Khan, raising the district’s tally to 11. Health officials said the latest victim is a girl from the area, with her samples collected on December 31, 2024.

A day earlier, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the NIH confirmed the 71st case in Sindh’s Jacobabad.

To counter the resurgence, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, in collaboration with the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI), continues to conduct nationwide mass vaccination campaigns.

The EPI also provides immunisation services against 12 childhood diseases free of charge at health facilities across the country.

The year’s first nationwide polio vaccination campaign is scheduled from February 3 to February 9, 2025.

The health authorities have urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive the vaccine during the campaign.

Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, and the number of cases every year had significantly dropped in the country, until the recent spike in cases.

Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme explains that polio is a “paralysing” disease with “no cure” and “the completion of the routine vaccination for all children under the age of five” just provides them “high immunity against this terrible disease”.