Japan announces $4.63m grant to help close immunity gaps

Islamabad :The government of Japan Wednesday announced a grant of $4.63 million to support the procurement of over 28 million doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), sufficient to vaccinate 25 million children under the age of five in high-risk districts Pakistan, thereby enabling the country to quickly close immunity gaps.

The disclosure was made at a ceremony marking the signing and exchange of grant notes between the government of Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The grant will support supply of polio vaccine for case response and mop-up vaccination campaigns during the 2017-2018 low transmission season.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister for Health Saira Afzal Tarar said, “The steady support of the government of Japan and other partners and seamless working together has been a crucial element of Pakistan’s success. Defeating polio through a collective approach motivates us to achieving broader health priorities and development milestones for the children and people of Pakistan.”

Acknowledging the Japanese government’s commitment, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, said “Over the years, the government and people of Japan have stood by us during the most difficult times. We are keen to achieve our goal of interrupting poliovirus during this critical low season. With five cases at this point in 2017, our programme has never been in a better place to do so.”

Takashi Kurai, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Pakistan said, “Polio is indeed a global challenge for public health but this crippling disease is preventable by vaccination. Japan continues to support polio vaccination in Pakistan and I do hope that every child is surely vaccinated and very soon, we will achieve the long cherished goal of complete eradication of this disease from Pakistan.”

Yasuhiro Tojo, Chief Representative of JICA in Pakistan said, “The determination of Pakistan to wipe out the poliovirus can be clearly seen in the record low number of cases. We are glad to be part of this effort and hope that our support to procure additional oral polio vaccine will accelerate the country’s pace towards achieving this milestone.”  Cristian Munduate, Acting Country Representative of UNICEF Pakistan said, “The new grant comes at a time when the country is making headway towards stopping poliovirus circulation. I am confident that together, we will defeat the virus during this low transmission season.”

Pakistan has reported five polio cases so far this year compared to 16 by this time in 2016. The purpose of multiple vaccinations is to protect each individual child within the community by maintaining high population immunity to stop transmission of wild poliovirus.

Under the National Emergency Action Plan, the programme has planned to conduct 10 national and sub-national immunization campaigns during the 2017-18 low season besides undertaking special efforts to address immunity gaps in select areas and maintain permanent and transit point vaccination. This aggressive plan necessitates increased demand for OPV during the various immunization activities, which will be covered by the existing funding while the Japanese grant will cover the full case response requirement.

Japan has been supporting the Polio Eradication Initiative in Pakistan since 1996. Approximately $218.35 million has been funded, including this grant, for procurement of OPV, inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and cold chain equipment to strengthen vaccine management.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus mainly affects children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system, and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the only effective way to protect children from the crippling disease. Every time children under the age of five get the polio vaccine, they are more protected. Such repeated immunizations have protected millions of children from polio and made most of the countries around the world polio free.