Islamabad, April 26 (IANS). In Pakistan, 71 children have died due to measles in the first four months of this year. Maximum 40 children became its victims in Sindh. Local media gave this information on Sunday.
According to the report of Pakistan’s well-known daily Dawn, among the 71 children who died of measles in the first four months of 2026, Sindh is followed by Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 12 children each died in both the provinces, while four children from Balochistan could not be saved.
From January to April 2026, 4,541 cases of measles have been reported in Pakistan, including 1,712 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,198 in Punjab, 1,183 in Sindh, 17 in Balochistan, 55 in Islamabad, 151 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and 45 in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan.
Apart from measles, the fight against polio also remains a challenge in Pakistan. People have not been able to trust the vaccine, and due to this many people are falling prey to the disease. Also in 2026, a case of polio was reported in Sujawal, Sindh.
74 cases of polio were reported in 2024, while 31 cases were reported in 2025. Nine cases of polio were recorded in Sindh in 2025, with nearly 80 per cent of environmental samples found positive for the virus, Dawn reported.
However recently, the Sindh Chief Minister claimed that there has been a great deal of success in fighting polio, and the environmental positivity rate has come down to 24 percent.
Khalid Shafi, on behalf of the Pakistan Pediatric Association, said, “Although the government is continuing its efforts, there are many challenges regarding regular immunization. The biggest challenge is vaccine hesitancy.” He appealed to make a strategy to make people aware about vaccinating children against polio.
Local media has been reporting attacks on personnel deployed to protect the polio team every day.
On April 13, a police constable was killed and four others were injured when a law enforcement party going to provide security to polio teams was attacked in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
This incident took place in Thal tehsil of Hangu on the first day of the vaccination campaign to be held from April 13-19. Hangu District Police said in a statement that unidentified assailants opened fire on the police party, killing one policeman and injuring four others, Dawn reported.
The injured policemen were taken to the hospital for treatment. After the incident, a search operation was launched in the area to find the attackers.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still widespread. Polio workers in Pakistan have often been the targets of attacks. These also especially include the areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
In February, unidentified assailants opened fire on a police vaccination team in Chaman district of Balochistan, Pakistan, killing a policeman.
–IANS
kr/