Japanese envoy reviews anti-polio drive in Islamabad

Islamabad: The ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Takashi Kurai visited the Rotary Dispensary here Tuesday to observe the national immunisation campaign that kicked off with a target to vaccinate 36,917,551 children under five years of age against polio.

During the visit, Kurai expressed appreciation for the significant progress made in Pakistan in the fight against polio and emphasised the importance of continued support to the government of Pakistan in its pursuit to rid the country of the menace of polio. “Japan remains fully committed to supporting the government toward a world free of polio,” said the Japanese ambassador.

Pakistan has made steady and systematic progress over the last year towards the interruption of poliovirus transmission. The paradigm shift from “coverage” to “no missed children” has driven encouraging results. The proportion of children recorded as “missed” during campaigns and remaining unvaccinated after each campaign has declined to 4 per cent in the 2016 low transmission season. The current National Emergency Action Plan aims to achieve zero missed children.

The number of confirmed wild poliovirus (WPV) cases in Pakistan has declined by 82%: from the 306 confirmed cases seen in 2014 to 54 cases in 2015, and it continues to decline in 2016. The 14 confirmed cases reported as of August 2016 this year represent a 63 per cent decline in case count compared to the similar period in 2015.

The government of Japan is one of the leading donors and has supported the Polio Eradication Initiative in Pakistan continuously since 1996. Approximately, $212.5 million has been delivered to date for procurement of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), and, strengthening of vaccine management and cold chain system.