The UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme, UAE-PAP, has successfully administered 346,803,020 million doses of polio vaccines to more than 57 million Pakistani children between 2014 and the end of September 2018.
ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2018) The UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme, UAE-PAP, has successfully administered 346,803,020 million doses of polio vaccines 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 is part of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed's initiative 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 4 polio cases were reported in Pakistan, a 98% reduction rate in cases reported since the start of the campaign. This 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 President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the follow-up of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, to provide humanitarian assistance to Pakistan, support the health sector and strengthen the country's prevention programmes.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has donated US$167 million since 2011 to support global efforts to eradicate polio, with a particular focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan. His Highness's 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 Khalifah 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 region of Pakhtunkhwa, 33 districts in the Baluchistan Province, and 12 districts in Sindh Province.
Poliomyelitis mostly affects children under the age of five, and one in 200 is paralysed once affected, and between 5 -10 percent of people with paralysis die because of failed respiratory function.
