Islamabad, April 26 (IANS) As many as 71 children, including 40 in Sindh, have died in Pakistan, due to measles in the first four months of 2026, local media reported on Sunday.
Among the 71 children who have died due to measles in Pakistan, Sindh topped the list with 40 deaths followed by 12 each in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and four in Balochistan in the first four months of 2026, according to the official statistics, Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported.
As many as 4,541 measles cases have been reported in Pakistan in the first four months of 2026 with 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.
Meanwhile, the sources said polio continues to remain a challenge in Pakistan with the continued prevalence of the disease amid security concerns for vaccinators. In 2026, one polio cases was detected in Sindh’s Sujawal.
Pakistan reported 74 polio cases in 2024 while 31 cases were reported in 2025. Sindh recorded nine cases of polio in 2025, with nearly 80 per cent of environmental samples testing positive for the virus, Dawn reported.
Recently, Sindh Chief Minister noted that there was significant progress in battling polio, with environmental positivity rates reducing to 24 per cent.
Khalid Shafi, representing the Pakistan Paediatric Association, said, “While the government continues its efforts, there are multiple challenges with respect to routine immunisation. The most important one is vaccine hesitancy.” He called for making strategies to aware people about vaccinating children against polio.
On April 13, a police constable was killed and four others injured after law enforcement party heading to provide security for polio teams in Hangu district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local media reported.
The incident happened in Thall tehsil of Hangu on the first day of vaccination campaign scheduled for April 13-19. In a statement, the Hangu District police said that unidentified assailants opened fire on a police party, killing a police personnel and injuring four others, Dawn reported.
The injured police personnel were rushed to the hospital for the treatment. Following the incident, a search operation was initiated in the area to find the attackers.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where Wild Poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers in Pakistan have been frequently targetted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
In February, a police personnel was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on a police vaccination team in Chaman district of Pakistan’s Balochistan.
–IANS
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