UAE provided over 346m doses of polio vaccine for children
abu dhabi — The UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE-PAP) has successfully administered 346.8 million doses of polio vaccine to more than 57 million Pakistani children between 2014 and the end of September 2018.
The programme management has said that the UAE vaccination campaign was initiated by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to eradicate polio in the world, and is a direct translation of the UAE leadership’s efforts to strengthen global efforts to prevent health epidemics and its commitment to helping the needy and the poor receive preventive healthcare, especially children in need in various countries of the world.
So far in 2018, only four polio cases were reported in Pakistan, a 98 per cent reduction in cases reported since the start of the campaign. These results are an important positive indicator in achieving UN objectives for eliminating the epidemic in the near future.
The programme was launched upon the directives of the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the follow-up of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs, to provide humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, support the health sector and strengthen the country’s prevention programmes.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has donated $167 million since 2011 to support global efforts to eradicate polio, with a particular focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan. His contributions are in cooperation with international organisations and institutions concerned with the provision of humanitarian and health services to needy communities and peoples and support the global efforts to eradicate polio and reduce the incidence of the disease significantly in the targeted countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, Director of the UAE PAP, announced the detailed results of the UAE vaccination campaign over the years, pointing out that since 2014 until the end of September 2018, over 346 million doses of the polio vaccine have been administered to more than 57 million children under five.
The campaign covered high-risk areas which include 25 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 33 districts in Balochistan and 12 districts in Sindh. —