Polio is once again spreading in Pakistan, where officials say more than 1 million children missed their vaccination doses last month, underscoring the challenges they face in eradicating one of the world’s most intractable diseases.

Polio cases are rising ahead of a new vaccination campaign in Pakistan, where violence targeting health workers and the police protecting them has hampered years of efforts toward making the country polio-free.

According to World Health Organization Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the last two countries where polio is endemic

Cases of the polio virus – which causes paralysis or even death – have been rising across Pakistan – especially in southwestern Balochistan, southern Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and eastern Punjab provinces,

Polio has started to resurface in Pakistan as more than one million children failed to receive their vaccinations last month. Since the beginning of the year, the country has reported 39 new polio cases,

The rise in polio cases has widened an existing immunity gap that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Polio, a highly infectious disease that mainly affects children under five, attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis and death.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO): world news

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign will start on October 25, aiming to immunize over 4.5 million children across Pakistan.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, at least 18 polio cases have been confirmed this year, according to the World Health Organization. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the world’s last two countries where polio remains endemic.