ISLAMABAD: As many as 40 environmental samples from all four provinces and the federal capital were found positive during the month of December. According to an official of the polio laboratory located at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, as many as 127 sewage samples from 87 districts were tested for the presence of poliovirus in December 2025. Of these, 87 samples tested negative, while 40 samples were found positive for poliovirus. “As many as 23 samples were collected from Balochistan, of which 21 were found negative and two were found positive. A total of 34 samples were collected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which 26 were negative and eight were found positive. From Punjab, 31 samples were collected, of which 25 were negative and six were positive. In Sindh, six samples were found negative and 23 were positive. In Islamabad, one out of five samples was found positive. However, five samples collected from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan were found negative,” the official said. Replying to a question, the official explained that if the virus causing the crippling disease was found in sewage, the sample was termed positive, while the paralysis of a child caused by the virus was recorded as a positive case. “A sewage water sample from an area is a basic parameter used to determine whether polio vaccination campaigns are being carried out successfully. After detection of positive samples, polio campaigns are immediately launched to eradicate the virus from the area,” he said. “A polio case can be reported in any city due to the frequent movement of people from one city to another, but the presence of the virus in sewage water means that a vaccination campaign in the area did not meet its target. The presence of the virus in sewage water also indicates that the immunity level of local children has fallen and that they are at risk of the disease,” the official explained. According to a statement, in 2025 the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, led by the government of Pakistan, conducted six vaccination campaigns, including five nationwide and one subnational drive, reaching over 45 million children. As part of this roadmap, the first nationwide polio campaign of 2026 will be conducted from February 2 to 8 in all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five. “To further strengthen immunity, the government of Pakistan continues to provide free routine immunisation services for all children up to two years of age. Together, routine immunisation and repeated polio vaccination provide the strongest and most reliable protection against polio and other preventable diseases. Parents and caregivers are strongly urged to en­­sure that children under five re­­ceive polio drops during every vaccination campaign to protect them from lifelong disability,” it stated. Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2026