Nearly 35,000 parents in Sindh have declined to vaccinate their children against poliovirus, with an overwhelming majority of refusals, about 34,000, reported from Karachi.
The figure emerged after the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) carried out a vaccination drive across 25 districts of Sindh from September 1 to 7, targeting 2.1 million children.
Officials said the highest number of refusals came from Karachi’s East district, where more than 8,000 parents rejected the vaccine.
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The revelation follows Sindh’s seventh confirmed polio case of 2025, an eight-month-old girl from Hyderabad, bringing Pakistan’s total cases this year to 27.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leads with 18 cases, followed by Sindh with seven, while Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan have reported one case each. A new nationwide polio vaccination campaign will run from October 13 to 19.
