Pakistan, June 28 -- Pakistan is again being told that polio eradication is close. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative's Technical Advisory Group has set benchmarks running through 2026 and into 2027, while cautioning that fewer reported cases and fewer positive sewage samples should not be read as proof that the virus has been beaten. Pakistan has heard this before. It has stood near the finish line more than once, only to slip back.

The present moment is therefore unusually unforgiving. Pakistan had only eight cases in 2017, one in 2021 and six in 2023. By the end of 2025, the number had risen again to 31. The first case reported this year, from Sujawal, was genetically linked to an environmental sample from Hyderabad.

This week, ...