- An Exchange of Notes (E/N) concerning a general grant amounting to 389 million JPY in aid for the “Project for the Control and Eradication of Poliomyelitis” was signed on 7 March 2014 in Islamabad, Pakistan between Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Mr. Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Representative in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
- Pakistan has among the largest number of cases of poliomyelitis per year of any country in the world, and it is one of only three countries (the others being Nigeria and Afghanistan) where wild strains of polio-myelitis virus are still endemic. Japan has been providing continuous assistance since 1996 for polio eradication in Pakistan in cooperation with UNICEF. The assistance from the international community, including Japan, has steadily decreased the incidence of polio-myelitis in Pakistan. In spite of the aforementioned efforts, its eradication has not yet been achieved and continuous international measures are still needed.
- This project aims to provide both oral polio vaccines for the mass-vaccination campaigns which are run whenever new cases of infection are discovered as well as refrigerators for the vaccines’ preservation through UNICEF. New cases of poliomyelitis occur particularly often in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan (including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas). The prevention of poliomyelitis is expected mainly in these areas through the implementation of this project.
（Reference） The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is situated in south Asia. Its land area is 796,000 km2, its population is about 180.71 million (Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12) and its gross national income (GNI) per capita is 1,372 USD (Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12).
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