The Government of Japan has announced to provide a grant of more than $3.87 million to support the polio eradication programme in Pakistan which will help in the procurement of essential oral polio vaccine and its provision to more than 18.61 million children under the age of five living in pervasive and outbreak districts, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
The notes of the grant were signed and exchanged between the Japanese government and the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) and between Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and Unicef on Thursday in Islamabad.
Ambassador of Japan, H.E. WADA Mitsuhiro, praised the Government of Pakistan and UNICEF for their untiring efforts in emergency vaccination drives in southern KP and launching transit points in North Waziristan to restrict the spread of Wild Polio Virus.
“I would like to renew my commitment to achieve the polio-free world. Japan will continuously support the Government of Pakistan and UNICEF in this regard. I sincerely hope that the national and sub-national campaigns of the next year will be safe and successful.” He said.
Minister for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel was also present at the signing ceremony. He extended his sincere gratitude to the Government of Japan and partners for their unwavering commitment to Polio eradication.
“Pakistan has come a long way in the last 30 years. From thousands of children paralyzed by poliovirus in the 1980s and 1990s, we have managed to reduce the number of cases and affected communities drastically,” said the Health Minister during his speech.
Highlighting the commitment of the government to polio eradication, the Minister said, “The Programme has successfully restricted virus circulation to endemic districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; we are committed and optimistic about eradicating polio by 2023.”
Japan’s support of the programme in past
Japan has been supporting the Polio Eradication Programme in Pakistan since 1996. The age-old cooperation has helped to reach millions of children with life-saving vaccines over the years. The grant and loan contribution from the Government of Japan to date has amounted to more than US$ 238.66 million dollars to support the Polio Programme in Pakistan through UNICEF.