UAE vaccinates 722,500 in anti-polio drive

New 10-day campaign targeting 1.5million children to start on August 17

The Emirates Polio Campaign has successfully vaccinated 722,500 children in Pakistan in a week in July, the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme has announced.

The inoculation campaign was conducted as part of the global initiative of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to eradicate polio from July 20-26, 2020.

Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, Director of the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme, highlighted that the initiative reflects the UAE leadership’s commitment to strengthen global cooperation to prevent the spread of epidemics, as well as to protect children and support global polio eradication efforts.

Al Ghafli said the Emirates Polio Campaign achieved a 94.3% success rate against the campaign’s target of 766,000 children.

“This campaign is the first of its kind in the world to vaccinate children against polio since the spread of Covid-19, after a break of nearly 4 months in vaccination efforts,” he said.

He said the campaign targeted areas in Pakistan that had witnessed polio outbreaks, with total cases climbing above 60 cases to date in 2020. The week-long campaign reached areas of high security risk, where children are especially threatened and vulnerable to disease and communities must contend with poor health care infrastructure.

The geographical scope of the campaign included tribal areas in the South Waziristan region, the city of Quetta in the Balochistan province, Attock and Faisalabad in Punjab, and Karachi in the Sindh province.

Al-Ghafli pointed out that the campaign adhered to stringent planning and preventative measures in response to Covid-19. More than 3,465 vaccination teams and security personnel underwent training on field safety precautions

and Covid-19 risks, particularly with regards to dealing with children.

Parents educated

This effort was complimented by an awareness campaign on traditional and social media to encourage parents to be proactive in vaccinating their children.

Furthermore, parents were educated on protecting their children from polio, as well as from the risk of contracting Covid-19.

Al Ghafli announced that the Emirates Polio Campaign plans to launch a new 10-day effort on August 17, targeting 15,526,000 Pakistani children in 85 regions in Pakistan. An implementation plan has been developed involving 96,000 vaccination and security team members.

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed has committed $327.8 million since 2011 to support global efforts to eradicate polio, with a special focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan.