ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: The Japanese government on Friday pledged $10.2 million to Pakistan for procurement of 93 million doses of oral polio vaccine for over 33 million children under the age of five.

An agreement in this regard was signed here at the health ministry between Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka and Unicef representative Omar Abdi in the presence of Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan.

Total Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) requirement for the year 2005 is estimated at 160 million doses. Under the new agreement, the funds provided by Japan would be used for procuring approximately 93 million doses of OPV, which constituted approximately 58 per cent of the total polio vaccine requirement for 2005.

So far only 36 polio cases have been reported till the end of October this year compared to 88 during the same period in 2003. Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Nasir Khan declared the donation as a crucial support to protect and save the future of Pakistani children from the scourge of polio.

He said the government was committed to eradicating the menace of polio. Incidents of polio have been reduced to six countries namely Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Niger and Egypt, he added.

He was happy to note that no polio case had been reported from Balochistan, a province where thousands of cases used to be reported. Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka said his country became a partner of Pakistan in its fight against polio in 1996 and in this pursuit had so far contributed a sum of $58.7 million including the current assistance.

It is heartening to see that Pakistan is taking strides towards achieving the goal of a polio-free country by the end of 2005. The goal is within reach due to the successful mobilization of the entire government machinery and the people of Pakistan for the past several years that not even a single child misses polio drops, he said.

Experts are convinced that Pakistan will achieve the desired objectives by the stipulated period, the ambassador said, adding that with adequate resources and working in partnership, "we could and we must deliver a polio-free world to our children".

Omar Abdi said Japan had always been the single largest bilateral donor for polio eradication in Pakistan. Owing to the continued commitment of our polio eradication partners, the number of new polio cases in Pakistan has dropped dramatically since the commencement of the campaign in 1994, he said.

Epidemiology looks very promising for stopping transmission entirely in 2005, he said. As we approach this final stage of polio eradication, we need to be more focussed and vigilant in our duties. Any lapse in quality of campaigns could deliver a tragic blow to the considerable progress made since the campaign began in 1994, Mr Abdi said.