It is enough of an ignominy that this country is one of only two, the other being Afghanistan, where polio still remains endemic. However, it is even more shameful that even those brave souls who are trying to eradicate this disease from the country are routinely the target of violent, deadly attacks. It is almost as if there are some out there who do not want this country to be polio-free. The latest addition to this tragic trend came on Monday, when two police personnel deployed on security duty for anti-polio teams were martyred in separate attacks in the Bajaur tribal district. The attacks came on the very first day of a vaccination campaign across 79 high-risk districts, aiming to immunise around 19 million children under the age of five. Following the attacks, local elders reportedly announced a boycott of the anti-polio drive due to the deteriorating security conditions. This is how the health of entire districts is jeopardised and their children’s well-being and even lives are put at severe risk. This is not the first time Pakistan has seen fatal attacks on polio teams and the police assigned to protect them, and sadly, it likely will not be the last.
In 2026, no child in Pakistan should be falling prey to polio but a small, myopic and violent subset is effectively holding the country’s health hostage. Aside from targeted violence, polio vaccines remain the target of misinformation campaigns and fake news, calibrated to convince people that a vaccine which could save lives is actually somehow dangerous. This is, of course, complete nonsense, but that has not stopped many from believing in these lies and anti-vaccine conspiracies and propaganda in general. As a result, vaccine refusal remains another critical issue that polio workers have to face. And yet, they are still making great progress in the fight against this disease. Data from Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme shows that the majority of the environmental samples collected during the first two months of 2026 have tested negative for the poliovirus. As of writing, the nation has only recorded three polio cases this year, putting the country on track to record fewer cases than last year’s tally of 31. The 2025 tally was also a significant improvement over the 74 cases recorded in 2024. And, according to reports from earlier in the year, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had actually recorded a reduction in refusal cases during a vaccination campaign that ended in February.
The data gives us many reasons to believe that Pakistan is winning the fight against polio and can, and indeed will, eradicate the disease in the coming years. But then attacks like the ones in Bajaur happen and we are all reminded of how formidable the challenges on this front still are. By now, the state needs to have learned that polio teams need much better security. Cops at the frontlines simply cannot be targeted and killed like this time after time. The challenge is understandable, particularly given the security situation along the western border, but taking it on is inevitable if we are serious about ending polio. The same goes for efforts to counter anti-vaccine misinformation and ensure that every child is immunised.
Editorial Published in The NEWS on May 20, 2026.
