JAPAN GIVES $ 3.74 MILLION FOR POLIO ERADICATION IN EGYPT
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| © UNICEF Egypt 2005 |
| From left Dr. Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Representative, H.E Dr. Mohamed Awad Tag El Din, Minister of Health and Population, H.E Mr Kunihiko Makita, The Ambassador of Japan to Egypt |
Cairo, August 29, 2005: The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has received a grant worth US$ 3.74 million from the Government of Japan to support the campaign against polio in Egypt.
The grant was formalized on Monday in a ceremonial signature and exchange of notes at the Ministry of Health and Population in Cairo. Japan was represented by its Ambassador to Egypt, Mr Kunihiko Makita, while Dr. Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Representative, represented UNICEF Egypt. The signing ceremony was witnessed by H.E Dr. Mohamed Awad Tag El Din, Minister of Health and Population.
In a statement, Dr. Manoncourt said the grant represented another important step on the road towards defeating a disease which once crippled thousands of Egyptian children each year. "Today, Egypt is tantalisingly close to wiping out the polio virus," said Dr Manoncourt. "Indeed, there’s every reason to hope that by the end of 2005 it will join other countries where transmission of the disease has been halted".
The funds provided by Japan will be used to procure 26.5 million polio vaccine doses for the National Immunization Days (NIDs) scheduled for November 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, during which some 11 million children aged under 5 will be vaccinated against polio. The funds will also purchase refrigerators and other essential "cold chain" equipment, and support the transportation to the field of more than 13,000 supervisors. Similar grants – totaling nearly US$ 7 million – were made by Japan in 2003 and 2004.
In his comments, Ambassador Makita spoke of Japan's contribution to the global campaign against polio. He said this commitment was underlined by its support to polio immunization not only in Egypt, but in Nigeria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
For his part, Minister Tag El Din praised Japan's "generous support" to Egypt's polio eradication and prevention programme. He said the great progress made against the virus was the result of a broad partnership – including international partners and the media -- under the patronage of Her Excellency the First Lady, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak.
For further information contact:
Simon Ingram, UNICEF, Communication Officer, Egypt
Tel: (202) 5265083-87 Ext. 210 / 207
Heba Abdel-Hady, UNICEF Communication Assistant Ext 207
Background Information
Polio globally :
Endemic countries : Nigeria, Niger, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt
Countries where polio transmission re-established: Sudan, Mali
Polio importation countries: Indonesia, Yemen, Angola.
977 cases reported globally Jan-early August 2005.
Polio in Egypt
• More than 600 polio cases recorded in 1991. 7 cases confirmed in 2002. No case confirmed since May 2004.
• Geographical concentration of the wild poliovirus reduced from 5 governorates in 2002 to only Greater Cairo in 2005.
• 10 NIDS, one "Mop-up" campaign, and 5 sub-national Immunization Days (SNIDs) were implemented in 2004 and 2005 to vaccinate 11 million U5 children.
Leading the polio eradication activities in Egypt, MOHP is mobilizing 1000s of its staff and resources including vehicles, millions of OPV doses for polio routine immunization and implementing social mobilization plans at the local level. In addition, MOHP receives support from other polio partners:
UNICEF activities included: procurement of offshore OPV; training of health workers; operational support (transportation of vaccination teams and supervisors); refurbishment of cold chain equipment, social mobilization.
WHO provides technical support in the following areas: Acute Flacid Paralysis surveillance; training of health staff; provision of technical manpower to work with MOHP to plan, implement and monitor NIDs and SNIDs.
USAID supports the following: operational cost of NIDs and SNIDs including travel cost of vaccinators and supervisors
Rotary International provides volunteers to conduct house to house vaccination campaigns. In addition, Rotary provides some operational costs of NIDs.