The government has announced an anti-polio campaign across the country from May 23 to 29 after three cases of the crippling virus surfaced from North Waziristan in less than a month.

Parents are urged to ensure that their children are vaccinated against polio, said Federal Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel, while assuring the public that all possible measures will be taken to eradicate polio from the country.

Pakistan remained polio-free for at least 15 months with the last case being discovered in Balochistan’s Killa Abdullah on January 27 in 2021 - the only case of polio that year.

However, three cases of the virus surfaced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan on April 22, April 30 and May 15.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Emergency Operation Centre confirmed to Aaj News that families had not immunised children against the virus and use fake finger markings, sometimes with the help of volunteer polio workers.

Waziristan is vulnerable to the virus, with at least 18 high-risk union councils which are comprised of dense, underserved population groups with poor levels of immunisation against polio, according to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme’s assessment.

In 2022, five cases of polio have been reported across the world so far – three from Pakistan, one from Afghanistan and one from Malawi, in East Africa.