ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Japan provided $2.64 million support which would enable the government to procure 11 million doses of polio vaccines for rapid campaigns in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The assistance would also be utilised on awareness campaign to eliminate misunderstanding and prejudice against the polio vaccination.

Ambassador of Japan Hiroshi Oe, Unicef Representative in Pakistan Dan Rohrmann and Secretary Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination Amjad Ali Khan signed notes in this regard on Thursday.

The Japanese government's support for the year 2012 through the new grant assistance and soft loan of about $65 million constitutes 59 per cent of the total oral polio vaccine requirement of Pakistan.

The loan was extended to Pakistan in August this year for the procurement of polio vaccines for national immunisation day and sub-national immunisation day.

Objective of the project is to optimise immunisation of polio vaccines to children less than 5 years by procuring vaccines and providing services necessary for polio immunisation activities thereby contributing to the eradication of polio in the country.

The total contribution of the Japanese government to the polio eradication initiative since 1996 added up to about $154 million, a sum amounting to 28 per cent of the total requirement which has been significant in reducing the number of polio cases from 1,803 cases in 1993 to 144 cases in 2010.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also implemented a technical cooperation project since 2006 with the funding of $3.4 million for controlling the spread of infectious diseases besides polio.

JICA has been involved with Unicef together with other partners to provide technical assistance to the government to support polio eradication activities.

Following the signing ceremony, Ambassador Oe expressed hope that the additional assistance would help to effectively contain polio infection and to promote vaccination operation in the most inaccessible areas, especially near the border with Afghanistan.