ISLAMABAD   -  The federal capital city on Friday reported its first polio in 16 years, taking Pakistan’s tally to 17 this year.

According to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio at the National In-stitute of Health, the 17th case of 2024 was reported from the federal capi-tal when a child from Union Council Rural 4 of Islamabad was paralysed by type 1 (WPV1) of the viral disease.

The environmental samples from the capital city and neighbouring Rawalpindi district have been positive for WPV1 since June, underscoring the persistent threat of polio to children’s well-being.

“It is incredibly heartbreaking that another Pakistan child has been affected by a disease that has no cure but is entirely preventable with the help of an easily accessible vaccine,” said Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq.

She added that in view of the intense outbreak of poliovirus in the country, the Polio Programme has held in-depth consultative sessions with the provinc-es and districts to implement plans to improve all aspects of polio eradica-tion activities, starting from a polio campaign beginning next week.

“From September 9 onwards, polio teams will go house-to-house in 115 dis-tricts to vaccinate more than 33 million children under five,” she said. “This virus does not discriminate. Wherever it finds a child with weak immun-ity, it will attack. Parents must understand the urgency of ensuring that their children receive polio drops and are up to date on their routine immun-isation.”

Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, said the polio programme is launching this targeted vaccination campaign from September 9, particularly in districts where the virus has been detected and where the risk of continued transmission and spread is really high.

“We’re ramping up efforts to reach every child with polio vaccines, including in Islamabad. We have a collective responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of our children from crippling diseases such as polio.”

Before the latest case, 12 cases were reported from Balochistan, three from Sindh and one from Punjab earlier this year.