UAE helps vaccinate 86m children against polio in Pakistan

The UAE has helped administer more than 508 million doses of the polio vaccine to over 86m children in Pakistan throughout the past seven years. The annual results of the UAE Polio Vaccination Campaign, which was carried out in Pakistan from 2014 to the December 2020, under the joint UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme, were shared on Saturday. They showed that, despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary halt of the inoculation drives, more than 16m children were administered 52.5m doses last year. Door-to-door distribution resumed again in July with the goal of wiping out the disabling and life-threatening disease entirely. Polio is caused by the poliovirus, a highly infectious virus that attacks a person’s spinal cord and causes paralysis. The vaccination programme has been heavily supported by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi since 2011 by donating $247.8m towards the cause in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last year's campaign saw medics vaccinate children in 94 remote and high-risk areas in all four provinces of Pakistan. The programme was carried out with the help of 103,000 front-line workers, including doctors and nurses, and more than 82,000 security officers. Mobile teams also reached 22 Afghan refugees camps on the international border, where more than 597,000 Afghan children were vaccinated. Abdullah Al Ghafli, director of UAE PAP, said the campaign was part of UAE efforts to improve human health and protect people from diseases and pandemics. He commended the work of vaccination teams, who faced dire field conditions and challenges but helped the programme succeed. "The campaign covers 94 areas every month, which accounts for 59 per cent of Pakistan’s total land mass, serving over 16 million Pakistani children," he said. "Children in these areas are in constant need of vaccines throughout the year, due to malnutrition and weak immunity, as well as an environment that acts as an incubator of the disease, which makes the job of the programme’s teams even harder, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic." Mr Al Ghafli said campaign workers on the ground carried out field monitoring studies and intensified inoculation drives in high-risk areas, to curb the spread of the disease both locally and globally. The UAE programme finances training for medical staff, organises vaccination drives, provides logistical support, as well as the transportation and storage of vaccines. It also carries out annual awareness campaigns to dispel fears against vaccination and encourage the community to immunise their children. The World Health Organistion for the Eastern Mediterranean reported that global polio infections decreased in 2020 to 140 cases, including 84 in Pakistan and 56 in Afghanistan – indicating that the disease is closer to full eradication. Polio infection has been reduced by 99.9 per cent over the past 30 years.

UAE helps vaccinate 86m children against polio in Pakistan

Vaccination drive continues despite challenges posed by Covid-19 outbreak