ISLAMABAD: Japan has announced a $4.3 million grant to buy more than 28 million oral polio vaccine doses for Pakistan’s 2027 campaigns, the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said on Friday, as the country tries to end transmission of the disease by the end of next year.

Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, along with neighboring Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus transmission has never been interrupted. Cases have fallen from 74 in 2024 to 31 last year, and nine so far in 2026. Of the nine cases, four have been reported in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where security challenges and limited access to vaccines make it challenging for health workers to inoculate the local population.

“Since 1996, Japan has consistently supported Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts, working closely with UNICEF and other partners. Today’s new grant, which has been increased from last year, demonstrates Japan’s continued support for our shared goal of achieving a polio-free Pakistan,” said Akamatsu Shuichi, Japan’s ambassador to Pakistan.

“Japan fully supports Pakistan’s determination to achieve the goal of interrupting poliovirus transmission by the end of 2027,” he added.

The grant is up from $3.5 million last year, which paid for more than 24 million doses for this year’s campaigns. Japan has contributed more than $248 million in grants and loans through UNICEF to Pakistan’s polio program since 1996, according to the statement.

“The Government of Japan’s contribution comes at a critical time as Pakistan intensifies its efforts to interrupt poliovirus transmission and end this preventable disease,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio eradication.

“Every dose of vaccine supported through Japan’s contribution brings us closer to a polio-free Pakistan. We are grateful to the Government and people of Japan for their continued commitment and partnership in Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio and protect every child.”

Pakistan has set out its plan to end transmission in its National Emergency Action Plan 2026-27. Each national immunization drive targets more than 45 million children under five and relies on over 400,000 frontline health workers, the program said. Last week, Pakistan vaccinated 24 million children children in a seven-day long sub-national anti-polio campaign across 97 districts, conducted at the same time as one in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s polio campaigns have long been hampered by misinformation, vaccine refusals and attacks by militant groups, who falsely claim the vaccines are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children. In September, unidentified gunmen killed two police constables guarding a polio vaccination team in Balochistan.