Situationer: The 2024 polio counter is still ticking

• Despite end of calendar year, total tally will become clear well into January as collected samples are tested
• Officials blame data forgery, use of vaccination drive as ‘bargaining chip’, security situation for resurgence

PAKISTAN and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the poliovirus is still endemic.

A glimmer of hope to get out of this ignominious list emerged in 2021, when the country reported only one case of the crippling disease. The hope persisted through 2022 and 2023...