Feature Report: “When a child is affected by polio, their parents say, ‘This is a disabled child—what will he achieve through education?’ The attention given to normal children is not given to children affected by polio. When they go outside, people ask, ‘What will you do out there? You're disabled.’”
These are the words of 27-year-old Mehnaz Afridi from the Khyber district, who was affected by polio at the age of one. Talking to Human Online, Mehnaz says that children affected by polio spend their entire lives in struggle. “Neither society accepts them, nor do their own families truly care for them,” she explains.
“Children affected by the poliovirus face challenges even outside the home. Educational institutions lack facilities for them, and even if they manage to get an education, finding a job is not easy. In sports, while normal athletes are awarded up to 50,000 rupees, disabled individuals receive far less—often no more than 5,000,” Mehnaz added.
Polio in Pakistan: A Persistent Threat
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where the polio virus still exists. Although anti-polio campaigns are regularly conducted in Pakistan—vaccinating millions of children—polio cases continue to be reported. According to the Anti-Polio Program, ten cases of polio have been reported in Pakistan so far this year.
When asked by Human Online, Officials from the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and polio workers cite several reasons for the virus's persistence, including parental denial, fake vaccination markings, security issues, and widespread misinformation about the vaccine.
This is not just Mehnaz Afridi’s story. Every year in Pakistan, many children are affected by the poliovirus, leaving them to suffer its consequences for a lifetime.
According to the EOC, over 1.1 million children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were deprived of polio drops during a campaign conducted in December 2024. Many of these children missed vaccination either because they were not at home during the campaign or due to parental refusal. The majority of these refusals came from Peshawar, where more than 8,000 parents declined to vaccinate their children.
Polio Workers Face Danger and Resistance
Polio workers in Pakistan face enormous challenges during their door-to-door vaccination campaigns.
“Some don’t even open their doors,”_ Gul Shahrina, a polio worker in Peshawar. According to Gul, one of the many women on the frontlines of the polio eradication campaign, lack of cooperation from parents is a major hurdle. “Many families refuse to vaccinate their children due to misinformation, and some even demand fake finger markings to falsely indicate their children have been vaccinated." Gul Shahrina told Human Online.
“People abuse us, some even get violent—and in some tragic cases, polio workers have been killed,” she says. “There are homes where no one opens the door. Some say the women in the family are refusing, others say it’s the men. Some just lie and say their child has already been vaccinated.”
Despite these challenges, Gul and her fellow workers don’t give up. Community elders are often brought in to help persuade reluctant families. “Sometimes, after a lot of effort, they agree, and then they even show us respect. But there are still some who never agree,” she adds.
According to various reports, over 200 polio workers and their security personnel have been killed in Pakistan since 1990 with fresh case is registered on 27th may 2025 where a police man was killed in an attack on polio workers in Balochistan and two polio workers were kidnapped by armed men in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting the grave dangers faced by those fighting to eradicate the disease.
Medical Experts Stress Vaccine Safety
While some parents fear the polio vaccine may harm their children’s health, medical experts strongly emphasize that the drops are completely safe. Asked by Human Online, Dr. Muhammad Shehzad of Life Care Hospital in Peshawar explains that the poliovirus primarily affects children under the age of five.
“Polio is a viral disease with no cure. The only way to protect children is through vaccination,” says Dr. Shehzad. _“It can cause muscle weakness, and in severe cases, if it affects the chest muscles, it can even lead to death.” He adds that polio is a highly contagious viral infection that can easily spread from one person to another.
2024 Polio Statistics: A Grim Reminder
According to the Polio Eradication Program, 74 children were affected by polio in Pakistan in 2024. Balochistan reported the highest number of cases with 27, followed by Sindh with 23, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 22, and one case each in Punjab and Islamabad. So far this year, 8 new polio cases have been reported in Pakistan.
Challenges from Within the System
Shahid Khan, associated with Suno TV in Peshawar and experienced in reporting on polio and other health issues, explains that the challenge is twofold: not only is there a lack of awareness about the importance of polio vaccination, but the program is also entangled with vested interests.
“There’s a lot of money involved in this,” Shahid says. “Some people in the polio eradication program are drawing large salaries but don’t actually do the fieldwork. The real work is done by polio workers—they’re the ones going door to door, facing threats, yet still doing their job.”
Authorities Acknowledge Key Obstacles
Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, Deputy Coordinator of the Emergency Operations Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told Human Online that his team is fully committed to making the country polio-free. He acknowledges that parental refusals and security issues are major obstacles in eradicating polio.
Speaking about the problem of fake finger marking, Zeeshan Khan noted that in some areas of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, workers must walk up to two hours to reach remote homes. In such cases, fake finger markings sometimes occur. To address this issue, FIRs are now being filed against workers involved in such practices.
According to the Polio Eradication Program and medical experts, polio is a viral disease with no cure, and the only way to prevent it is through vaccination. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to ensure that every child under the age of five receives polio drops during each campaign.
