Japan provides $6.5m to protect 34.3m kids from Polio
By Bushra Rafique

ISLAMABAD—The Government of Japan today extended a sum of 6.5 million US dollars (721 million-yen) to procure 46 million doses of oral polio vaccine. This vaccine will be administered to around 34.3 million Pakistani children under the age of five across the country.
Exchange of Notes for this grant aid took place between His Excellency, Mr. Nobuaki Tanaka, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, and Mr. Omar Ahmed Abdi, Country Representative, UNICEF-Pakistan here today. His Excellency, Mr. Nasir Ahmad Khan, Federal Minister of Health was also present to witness the signing ceremony.
The Government of Japan's support for the year 2006 constitutes 28% of the total polio vaccine requirement in Pakistan. The total contribution of the Government of Japan to this project since 1996 adds up to 65.2 million US dollars (7,558 million-yen), a sum which has been significant in reducing the number of polio cases. While addressing the gathering at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Tanaka said, "The polio eradication campaign and our joint efforts have become all the more important in the context of the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan on 8t' October. The key challenge this time is of securing access to all children, including those affected by the unprecedented earthquake." Ambassador Tanaka added that he sincerely hoped that the Japanese grant will be used effectively to alleviate the plight of the Pakistani children, especially those in the disaster hit areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Northern Areas of Pakistan as well as the mountainous regions of North West Frontier Province (NWFP)."