ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: Japan has extended a grant of $3.85 million to Pakistan in support of polio eradication initiative in the country. The amount will be spent on procurement of 27.77 million doses of oral polio vaccines to be administered to Pakistani children under the age of five.

Official notes to this effect were signed and exchanged between Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan Seiji Kojima and Terje Thodesen, Officer In Charge, Unicef-Pakistan. Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan also witnessed the signing ceremony.

The Japanese government’s support for the year 2007 constitutes 9.3 per cent of the total polio vaccine requirement in Pakistan. The total contribution of the Japanese government to this project since 1996 adds up to $70 million, a sum which has been significant in reducing the number of polio cases.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has also started a new five-year technical cooperation project with the funding of 370 million yen to control infectious diseases including polio.

Mr Kojima, while speaking at the signing ceremony, said Japan was proud of its decade-old partnership with Unicef and Ministry of Health of Pakistan. He said the target was to bring to an end the transmission of debilitating polio virus.

He said this was achievable through continued collaboration and with the involvement of tireless assistance of the thousands of health workers, volunteers and community workers.