Overview

• Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah ordered the chief secretary to prepare a plan to block SIMs, CNICs and passports of parents who refuse polio drops, with legal action to be pursued.
• A Polio Vaccine Refusal Cell was established at the CM House to receive union council–wise data and coordinate social, political and administrative efforts to convert refusal cases.
• The Refusal Conversion Committee was directed to re-engage every refusing household, and elected representatives, deputy commissioners and SSPs were told to ensure drops are administered, even forcibly if necessary.
• Two new infections raised Sindh’s 2025 polio case count to nine out of 29 nationwide, and multiple Karachi sampling sites including Sohrab Goth, Orangi, Mosquito Colony, Rashid Minhas and Hijrat Colony tested positive for poliovirus.
• The September campaign missed 216,664 children — 181,142 were absent and 35,522 were refusals — and an intensified October 13 drive will prioritize outreach to nomadic families in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions.