PESHAWAR: Environmental sample from Peshawar has turned negative for poliovirus after eight months due to special strategy adopted by authorities concerned, according to health experts.

Polio laboratory at National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed that sewage samples from the provincial capital turned out negative for poliovirus indicating that the strategy including Peshawar Intensification Plan and administration of polio vaccine to children crossing Kohat tunnel from southern districts had paid off.

Vaccination of children atKohat tunnel, the major entry point from polio-endemic southern districts to Peshawar, proved a game changer for authorities, who had been worried about the persistent positivity of water samples from the provincial capital because presence of the virus in sewage water meant that vaccination campaigns lacked quality and children stood at risk of getting infected due to low level of immunity, said experts.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 20 of the 31 nationwide polio cases last year, mostly from southern districts.

According to details, a total of eight teams deployed at Kohat tunnel under police escort with two supervisors, inoculated 34,000 children in the first 50 days of 2026, which left surprising impact on Peshawar in the shape of negativity of six samples collected from sewage sites.

Peshawar had been the core reservoir of poliovirus for many years as with the exclusion ofJune 202s, all environmental samples had consecutively emerged positive with linkages to southern districts.

In November, last year, the new approach, referred to as Peshawar Intensification Plan, was put into practice and workers from Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) KP were placed in high-risk union councils (UCs) which led to improvement in campaign quality. The strategy was backed by decision to place a transit point at Kohat tunnel on the directives of chief secretary on the recommendation of national and provincial coordinators of EOCs.

Due to enforcement of the plan, the last three supplementary immunisation activities (SIAc) saw vaccinators reaching those children, who were either missed in previous campaigns or stayed unimmunised due to parents`reluctance.

Interviews with vaccinators revealed that campaign quality was assessed through trendanalysis during the last three SIAs, focusing on indicators known to influence transmission of poliovirus.

It was also part of the plan to strengthen strategic transit vaccination to reach mobile populations with enhanced supportive supervision for real-time problem solving and identification and prioritisation of high-risk areas in 43 union councisl using campaign indicators.

Strong monitoring by supervisors, close performance tracking, on-site troubleshooting and timely resolution of reported issues were the prime interventions that resulted in improved team effectiveness and reduction in missed children in highrisk union councils and areas.

Additionally, strengthening field execution and intensified supervision ensured consistent field presence and rapid course correction with inbuilt accountability mechanisms shifted emphasis from reporting gaps to resolving them on ground. Thehigh-risk union councils, the main area of concern, witnessed upswing in vaccination of children.

The mobile population, which has been often blamed for circulation of the virus, was reached through data-tracking system by vaccinators in addition to securing seven per cent reduction in refusals against oral polio vaccine. The vaccinators, who were part of the plan, said that the effort in high-risk areas produced a steady progress during the last three SIAs that bore fruit in the shape of negativity in environmental samples.

They said no single action was the sole reason of the success but a comprehensive approach made the difference by virtue of sheer dedication and teamwork.

`The Peshawar experience demonstrates that consistent and targeted quality improvement can interrupt transmission of poliovirus in high-risk urban settings as well as in endemic districts of the province,` they added.