ISLAMABAD: More than 407 million doses of polio vaccine were administered to over 71 million Pakistani children under the age of five between 2014 and April 2019 as part of an ambitious campaign launched by the United Arab Emirates, according to statistics released the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Program (UAE-PAP) in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Promising a “Healthy and Bright Future for All,” the Emirates Polio Campaign is designed to bring the crippling disease under control in different areas of Pakistan where it continues to destroy the lives of young people.

While health authorities in Pakistan regularly launch door-to-door anti-polio campaigns, vaccinators often deal with parental refusals since a large number of people in underprivileged communities are not aware of the seriousness of the disease or its paralyzing effects.

Much of the misinformation about the disease is spread through social media platforms, promoting the government to ask Facebook to remove harmful polio-related content last month that undermined its vaccination campaigns and put the lives of its health workers at risk.

Such misinformation campaigns triggered panic among people in April when it was rumored in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that multiple children had lost consciousness after receiving polio drops.

UAE’s anti-polio campaign in Pakistan is emblematic of its humanitarian commitment to other nations and highlights its role in supporting international efforts and United Nations programs to protect communities against diseases and epidemics.