ISLAMABAD, December 13 :The Government of Japan announced a US$ 4.35 million grant to procure essential oral polio vaccines as part of its continued support to Pakistan for its polio eradication efforts.
This latest grant will be utilized for the procurement of 24 million oral doses of vaccines. It will allow the programme to reach around 21 million children under five years old with focus on the high-risk districts with persistent poliovirus transmission. The vaccines will be used during vaccination drives planned in 2022.
According the National Action Plan (NEAP) 2021-2023, the Polio Porgramme’s strategic goal is to permanently interrupt all poliovirus transmission in Pakistan by the end of 2023.
The notes of the grant were signed and exchanged between the Government of Japan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the grant agreement was signed and exchanged between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and UNICEF.
“The Polio eradication efforts made substantive progress this year by limiting the virus circulation resulted significant decrease of Polio cases despite challenges posed by COVID-19. The programme is confident to permanently interrupt all types of polioviruses by the end of 2023,” said Dr. Shahzad Baig, National Coordinator of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme. -TLTP
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