WHO Extends Pakistan's Polio Travel Restrictions By Three Months

The World Health Organization has extended its polio-related temporary measures on Pakistan for a further three months, after its Emergency Committee on the international spread of poliovirus reviewed the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The WHO Director-General endorsed the committee's recommendation, with the extension effective from August 21, 2026, Daily Pakistan reported on September 27.

What the committee found

The committee said Pakistan and Afghanistan are "effectively forming a single epidemiological bloc" because of ongoing cross-border transmission, with sustained wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) transmission concentrated in Karachi, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Afghanistan. It described Karachi as a significant poliovirus reservoir and said improvements made after an audit of the Karachi programme were at an early stage and not yet enough to stop transmission. It also said about 250,000 children in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain unreached, mainly because of insecurity, and called for stronger coordination to vaccinate people crossing the border.

The numbers behind the decision

According to the committee's review, 57 environmental samples in Pakistan had tested positive for WPV1 in 2026, and four WPV1 cases had been reported across the two countries: three in Afghanistan and one in Pakistan. Pakistan's own count has since risen. The National Emergency Operations Centre confirmed the country's fourth case of the year in Bannu on September 11, and a fifth case in Bannu followed on September 29. Pakistan recorded 74 cases in 2024.

What the restrictions mean in practice

Under the temporary recommendations the WHO first issued when it declared polio's international spread a public health emergency in 2014, affected countries are asked to ensure residents and long-term visitors receive a dose of oral or inactivated polio vaccine four weeks to 12 months before international travel. The extension keeps that regime in force for Pakistan rather than adding new measures.

The vaccination effort underneath this decision

Pakistan ran a week-long sub-national vaccination campaign from September 21 to 27 targeting more than 31 million children under five across 115 high-risk districts, which we covered as it launched. The NEOC has said security-related access problems in Bannu division have left children missing vaccinations.

Build Better Pakistan's Health Desk tracks Pakistan's polio eradication effort and will report on the next Emergency Committee review as it comes due.