UAE’s polio drive a huge relief for Pakistan

A UAE paper has said that the country's generosity and desire to help those in need is well known. The nation has a proven record of charitable and humanitarian work at the local, regional and international levels.

The latest example of this benevolent streak can be gauged from the fact that over 20 million children in Pakistan have already been inoculated against polio as part of the Emirates Polio Campaign. The campaign is part of the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE-PAP).

Polio cases in Pakistan have recorded a sharp decline of more than 70 percent from 82 in the corresponding period last year to 24 cases this year due to the UAE's efforts.

"Nearly 87 million vaccines were administered as part of the drive till May," said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Wednesday.

The UAE-PAP programme roped in more than 3,000 doctors and 20,000 security men, utilising healthcare centres and mobile units for remote villages, refugee camps and border areas, covering 49 per cent of Pakistan's area and achieving 98.7 per cent success.

Polio is a very important public health issue in Pakistan, which is one of the last remaining countries where the disease has not been fully eradicated. It has a damaging effect among children and can cause permanent disability, leading to death.

WHO warned of the polio situation in Pakistan, which reported 198 cases in 2011, the highest in ten years, compared to 58 cases in 2012 and 93 in 2013.

The polio campaign was launched in Pakistan under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on an initiative by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to eradicate polio in Pakistan.

It is commendable that Dh440 million pledge was made by Sheikh Mohamed to back global efforts in eradicating polio by 2018, with a specific contribution towards Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, who is heading the campaign and focal person for polio eradication in Pakistan, said, "Thanks to the concerted efforts and through the help of the UAE, all agencies of Federally Administered Tribal Areas are now accessible to health workers and polio vaccination is in full swing."

"Most of the restive areas of the country have been successfully targeted through special protected polio campaigns," concluded the Sharjah-based daily.