ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) is helping Pakistan in preventing children from polio, the organization said in twitter post.
The campaign is a part of KSRelief’s contribution to health projects in Pakistan.
According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), KSRelief will provide polio vaccine worth $100 million to Pakistan aimed at protecting children from the virus.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic.
As of December 23, 2019 the number of polio virus cases stood at 111 in Pakistan — the highest in the country since 2014 when 306 cases were reported.
Crippling polio virus that strikes children under the age of 5 years is a highly infectious disease that mostly spreads through contaminated water.
Earlier this month, a high-level delegation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and donor partners of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) visited Pakistan where they met with Dr. Zafar Mirza, special assistant to the prime minister on national health services.
During that visit the LLF and IDB re-affirmed commitment to support Pakistan’s polio program.
“The LLF has prioritized the eradication of polio and contributed over $ 100 million to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme,” a statement from Dr. Mirza’s office said on December 18.
“We appreciate the long-standing partnership with the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund collaborators. Over the years we have come to count on them to keep up against the fight for a polio-free Pakistan, Dr. Mirza added that “beyond financial support, they have supported us in the advocacy to overcome religious refusals and highlighting vaccines efficacy and safety.”
Last week, Pakistan completed a nationwide anti polio vaccination campaign where Mirza said in a statement on December 21, 2019 that polio workers had successfully vaccinated 99% of the targeted 39.52 million children across Pakistan.
