Pakistan is one of the two remaining countries[1][2] in the world where poliomyelitis (polio) is still categorized as an endemic viral infection,[3] the other one being Afghanistan.[1] While it has yet to fully eradicate Polio, there has been a major downwards trend in the number of reported cases per year; the total count of wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan in 2019 was down to 147,[4] compared to 84 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 20 in 2022,[5] 6 in 2023[6] and 41 as of October 2024.[7]
Though the polio immunization campaign in the country started in 1974,[8] the efforts for eradication officially started in 1994.[9] The infection remains endemic despite over 100 rounds of vaccination being carried out in the past decade.[10] Pakistan had the world's highest number of polio cases in 2014.[11][12][13][14]
^Cite error: The named reference EndPolioCases was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Mangrio, Nawab Khan; Alam, Muhammad Mazhar; Shaikh, Babar Tasneem (2008-02-01). "Is Expanded Programme on Immunization doing enough? Viewpoint of health workers and managers in Sindh, Pakistan". The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. 58 (2): 64–67. ISSN0030-9982. PMID18333522.