ISLAMABAD – In a promising sign for its polio eradication efforts, Pakistan saw a significant drop in polio cases in 2025, recording less than half the number compared to the previous year. This progress comes despite ongoing challenges, including repeated attacks on healthcare workers, as noted by the government-managed Polio Eradication Initiative.

This encouraging update was shared shortly after Pakistan concluded its final nationwide polio immunization drive for the year, which aimed to vaccinate 45 million children.

Anwarul Haq, serving as the coordinator for the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, informed The Associated Press that the country documented 30 polio cases in 2025, a significant reduction from the 74 cases reported the year before.

According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the last two nations where polio is yet to be completely eradicated.

The recent statistics from Pakistan underscore both the progress achieved and the challenges that persist in the long-running campaign. Although vaccination rates have improved and case numbers have dramatically decreased, health officials caution that ongoing transmission in a few remote regions poses a risk. They emphasize the importance of maintaining robust immunization efforts to prevent potential setbacks.

Haq said Pakistan will launch its first anti-polio drive of the new year in the first week of February. He said no new infections have been reported anywhere in the country since September, attributing the decline to vaccination drives carried out during the year.

During the most recent vaccination drive, Haq said that more than 98% of the target population was reached. Access challenges persisted during vaccination campaigns, particularly in parts of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where health workers have faced resistance and security constraints.

Militants have repeatedly targeted vaccination workers and the police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming the campaigns are a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.

Authorities deploy thousands of police officers during each vaccination drive following intelligence warnings of possible attacks.

Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and police officers guarding them have been killed in such attacks, officials say.