ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: Japan will provide $9.6 million through the United Nations Children’s Fund in humanitarian assistance to support Pakistan’s ongoing polio eradication campaign for the year 2003.

Ambassador of Japan, Minoru Shibuya and Unicef Representative Ms. Carroll Long signed an agreement in this regard in the presence of the Federal Health Minister, Mohammad Naseer Khan, here on Saturday.

In addition to the current pledging, Japan has contributed $38.51 million to the eradication of polio in Pakistan since 1996.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister Naseer Khan said the efforts to eradicate polio stand out as a highly successful initiative for protecting millions of children in Pakistan from permanent disability.

They would also ensure Pakistan as a polio-free country in the near future where no child would be afflicted by this disease, he added.

The efforts in this regard would be redoubled and the government would continue to work hand in hand with its partners in ensuring that adequate resources were placed at the disposal of health system in the country so that the cherished goal of a polio-free Pakistan was reached soon, he added.

The minister said that the government was committed to the cause of polio eradication and right from the prime minister office to the district Nazim, there would be support and patronage for the programme at all levels.

Naseer Khan said the government greatly appreciated the support and commitment of its international partners in different health programmes being implemented throughout the country.

“We remain thankful to the government of Japan for its continuous support to the polio eradication efforts in the country,” he added.

He said the success so far achieved would not have been possible without the vital support in the form of oral polio vaccines for numerous national and sub-national polio immunization campaigns we have had for years.

The minister said the support being provided by Japan which was worth $9.6 million would be used to purchase oral polio vaccine for national and sub-national immunization days to be held in the first half of the year 2003 as Pakistan entered the final phase of efforts to completely wipe out polio.

This assistance brings the total support by the Government of Japan to the polio eradication effort since 1999 to $40 million.

He said the Japanese government had always been generous and forthcoming in extending assistance in different initiatives of the government in the health sector.

The total Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) requirement for the year 2003 is estimated to be 188 million doses which would be administered to more than 31 million children under the age of five throughout Pakistan.

Under this new agreement, the Japanese government’s contribution constitutes 51.5 per cent of the total polio vaccine requirement for the next year.

“I am confident that this Japanese grant of about $9.6 million dollars will be used effectively by Unicef in collaboration with the ministry of health for the procurement of oral polio vaccine,” the minister said.

“The present grant is even larger as compared to the assistance in previous years, providing 97 million doses to save more than 31 million children under the age of five from this dreadful disease,” Japanese Ambassador Minoru Shibuya said.

“We are committed to fighting infectious diseases worldwide as it is viewed by Japan as a global issue requiring approaches based on global partnerships” the ambassador added.

Japan has been supporting Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate poliomyelitis since 1996 through the procurement of the OPV, provision of cold chain equipment and monitoring and evaluation activities.

Unicef Representative Carroll C. Long noted that “many partners have been working with the Government of Pakistan for the eradication of polio, but I would also like to pay tribute to the thousands of health personnel and volunteers who have been involved in these efforts since 1994.”

The ceremony was attended by pop-singer and Pakistan’s Goodwill Ambassador for Polio Eradication, Jawad Ahmed, who performed his anthem for the campaign ‘Polio-free Pakistan, and a young woman, Amna, a victim of polio who presented the Ambassador of Japan with a letter of thanks.

Senior government officials, diplomats, UN and media representatives and all key partners in the polio eradication initiative attended. —APP