Birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates will now only be issued upon presentation of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the District Health Officer (DHO), verifying that children in the relevant family have received the polio vaccine.

This drastic step follows the failure to vaccinate approximately 20,000 children during the last anti-polio campaign in Peshawar. A significant portion of this number, 8,000 children, were unvaccinated due to parental refusal. The administration is taking special measures to address this issue.

The move comes amidst growing concern over the resurgence of polio in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 18 cases have already been confirmed this year, with fears of further increases.

The administration hopes this policy will incentivize parents to vaccinate their children and ultimately contribute to the eradication of the polio virus in the region.