Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the government to prepare a comprehensive and coordinated polio eradication strategy, in consultation with all four provinces, within one week. He issued the order while chairing a review meeting on polio eradication in Islamabad on Thursday, 5 November.

The prime minister stressed the need to ensure the complete eradication of polio from Pakistan through close consultation with the provinces and a joint strategy involving all stakeholders, according to Radio Pakistan.

Provincial visits ordered

Mr Sharif directed the federal minister for national health services, the minister of state, the federal secretary for health and members of the polio eradication team to visit all four provinces immediately and meet the respective chief ministers and chief secretaries.

He also called for better routine immunisation coverage, especially in high-risk areas, and for intensified efforts in districts where the virus continues to circulate.

Nine cases reported in 2026

The meeting was told that a new polio case had been confirmed in Khyber district, taking the total for 2026 to nine cases, with seven from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh.

A sub-national vaccination round ran from 2 to 8 November, targeting about 24 million children under five in 97 high-risk districts, with more than 200,000 frontline workers going door to door. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic.