Pakistan: UAE PAP administers over 647 million doses of polio vaccine to children

The UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE PAP) has announced the results of the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign carried out in Pakistan from 2014 to the end of September 2022, highlighting that the campaign succeeded in administering 647,758,365 doses of vaccination against polio over nine years in Pakistan.

The move follows the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the follow-up of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, to offer humanitarian and developmental aid to Pakistan, to support its health sector, and to launch related prevention programmes in the country.

In 2014, the campaign targeted 3 million children, bringing the number to 17 million children per month during 2022.

Since 2011, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed has donated $376 million to humanitarian and charity efforts aimed at providing vaccines and financing polio eradication campaigns, most notably in countries targeted by his initiative, which are Pakistan and Afghanistan.

During the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign managed to provide 192,181,646 doses of the vaccine from July 2020 until September 2022.

The campaign's geographical coverage comprised 85 high-risk areas in Pakistan that were difficult to reach.

Its scope included 35 areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where local children received 326,953,462  doses of the vaccine, 33 areas of the Balochistan Province, where children received 94,850,025 doses of the vaccine, 14 areas of the Sindh Province, where children received 192,241,029 doses, and three areas in the Punjab Province, where children received 33,713,084 doses.

The programme noted that the field efforts to launch vaccination campaigns in various Pakistani provinces saw the participation of more than 103,000 doctors, observers and members of vaccination teams, as well as over 82,000 security personnel and coordination teams, who were focused on delivering vaccines to the targeted children.

The campaign also allocated special vaccination teams to provide vaccines to more than 597,000 Afghan refugee children in 22 refugee camps.

Speaking on the occasion of World Polio Day, observed annually on October 24, Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, Director of UAE PAP, attributed the outstanding success of the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign to the wise leadership's support for the campaign's field efforts.

He stated that the UAE was distinguished by its vision and efforts in implementing humanitarian and development projects directed at protecting underprivileged peoples and communities from diseases, epidemics, crises and disasters.

Al Ghafli noted that the UAE's support for various global programmes and efforts to eradicate diseases is one of the most important factors that contribute to the success of United Nations' programmes for health care, and had a direct and significant positive impact on improving the quality of life and the future of hundreds of millions of people across the world.

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