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Japan announces a $3.1 million grant to Pakistan to sponsor the 2025 Pakistani vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis targeting children

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Photo Source: by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wikimedia Commons, July 31st, 2022.

11-12-24

Chiara Bellini

Team Pakistan Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

 

Pakistan remains one of the last countries in the world where poliomyelitis persists as endemic (Dawn, 2024). There were 59 cases of polio in 2024, mostly affecting children under the age of five, potentially causing lifelong health complications and paralysis (Dawn, 2024). Prime Minister’s Coordination for Health Services Dr. Bharath stated that 60 percent of children contracting polio in 2024 had not received the proper routine immunisation vaccine (The News International, 2024). Thus, the Government official urged the Federal Expanded Programme on Immunisation and the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme to join efforts to eradicate this disease in polio-affected districts, such as in Balochistan, where almost half the cases were registered (The News International, 2024).

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme managed to reduce wild polio cases by 99 percent since 1994 and to lower the number of wild polio clusters from 11 in 2020 to one in 2024 (The News International, 2024). However, and despite the sponsoring of annual mass vaccinations by the authorities, vaccine hesitancy, insecurity, and misinformation persist, slowing down the campaigns progress or even disrupting it, as it often happens in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dawn, 2024) (The News International, 2024).

In support of Pakistan’s continued efforts to eradicate polio, Japan announced a $3.1 million grant destined to the 2025 vaccination campaign (The Express Tribune, 2024). A spokesperson of the Japanese government confirmed the financial contribution through the polio programme established by UNICEF, which will be used by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme to acquire more than 20 million doses of vaccines (Dawn, 2024). The campaign will target 45 million children under five and employ more than 400,000 frontline workers (The Express Tribune, 2024). 

 

Sources and further readings:

Japan funds Pakistan’s 2025 polio campaign. (2024, December 11). The Express Tribune. Retrieved on December 11, 2024, from https://tribune.com.pk/story/2515290/japan-to-fund-pakistans-2025-polio-campaign

Junaidi, I., Three more polio cases take tally to 59. (2024, December 3). Dawn. Retrieved on December 11, 2024, from https://www.dawn.com/news/1876385

Rehman, S.U., Over 60% polio affected children missed vaccines, reveals official. (2024, December 11). The News International. Retrieved on December 11, 2024, from https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1260532-over-60-polio-affected-children-missed-vaccines-reveals-official

Unvaccinated children account for 60pc of 2024 polio cases: health official. (2024, December 11). Dawn. Retrieved on December 11, 2024, from https://www.dawn.com/news/1878099/unvaccinated-children-account-for-60pc-of-2024-polio-cases-health-official

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