Toor Jan, resident of Tora Shah Batizai in Balochistan, is a victim of rumors that polio vaccines cause infertility.
As a result, four of his children, including three daughters, suffer from polio. In heart-rending scenes, his little ones stumble and then fall down in tears.
In response, Balochistan launched the last polio eradication campaign of 2024, which aims to vaccinate over 2.66 million children
Despite these efforts, the province reported 27 of Pakistan’s 68 polio cases in 2024, the highest among all regions.
This marks a troubling resurgence, with traces of the virus detected in environmental samples in September 2023.
The battle against polio in Pakistan has been challenging, especially following Dr. Shakil Afridi’s alleged fake vaccination campaign in 2011, which eroded public trust.
Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan remainamong the few countries still reporting polio cases. Experts and religious scholars continue to urge parents to dismiss harmful rumors and vaccinate their children to avoid lifelong disabilities like polio.