Residents vow to protect children from polio

LANDIKOTAL: Tribal elders, political and religious figures and youth on Tuesday pledged support for upcoming anti-polio efforts during a community awareness session here.

The District Emergency Operation Centre Khyber had organized the event to mobilize stakeholders ahead of the September vaccination campaign. A number of parents, elders, local bodies representatives and officials attended the session.

Addressing the gathering, Polio Communication Officer for district Khyber Said Afzal Shinwari underscored the importance of polio vaccination to protect children from the crippling virus. He informed participants that Pakistan had so far reported 19 polio cases in 2025. He said 12 polio cases had been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five from Sindh and one each from Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab, with the latest case confirmed in Lakki Marwat on August 5.

Shinwari said that in the last campaign, 87 polio vaccine refusal cases were recorded in Khyber mostly linked to community demands.He stressed that community ownership was vital to achieving eradication goals and announced that the next campaign would be held from September 1 to 8, aiming to vaccinate over 211,345 children under the age of five.The participants reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that every child in the district received polio vaccine during the upcoming campaign.