ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan has confirmed its eighth polio case of 2026, in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Sunday, a day before a week-long vaccination drive for about 24 million children begins.
Six of this year’s cases have been in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two in Sindh, the NEOC said.
The special sub-national campaign will run from November 2 to November 8 in 97 selected districts across the country, with polio drops given to children under five. The NEOC urged parents to make sure their children are vaccinated in every campaign and complete their routine immunisation on time, and called on all segments of society to back the eradication effort. Polio has no cure but can be prevented through vaccination, it said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries where wild polio remains endemic. Cases in Pakistan have fallen sharply, from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025, according to government data.
