Islamabad, 24 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) – Pakistani authorities on Thursday reported a staggering 40 new cases of polio since the beginning of the year, as they reaffirmed their commitment to eradicate the crippling disease.

Six cases of polio were reported last year, according to official data, down from a peak of 147 in 2019.

Pakistan managed to limit the spread of polio with the help of a door-to-door vaccination campaign. Official figures dropped to 84 cases in 2020, one in 2021 and 20 in 2022.

Officials say that tens of thousands of children missed out on vaccines amid a recent surge in violence, contributing to the spike in new cases this year.

"We will not rest until Pakistan is free of polio virus," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday to mark World Polio Day.

Sharif also inaugurated a nationwide polio vaccination campaign, starting on October 28, that would target 45 million children under the age of five.

Pakistan conducts periodic immunization drives, but healthcare workers are often targeted by Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Militants have killed dozens of healthcare workers during vaccination campaigns.

The militants accuse healthcare workers of acting as spies and claim that the polio vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are among the few countries in the world where new polio cases still surface. 

The disease can cause permanent paralysis and death.