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Press Release
Japan's Donation Bolsters Final Push for Polio Eradication$30 Million Contribution to UNICEF Helps Address Major Funding Gap NEW YORK/GENEVA/TOKYO, 1 June 2001 – The Japanese Government has greatly bolstered the final effort to purge the world of polio by donating US$30 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today.
Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director, applauded Japan for the donation, part of Tokyo’s traditionally strong support for fighting polio and other infectious diseases. The contribution brings the total Japan has contributed this year to UNICEF for polio eradication to US$40 million. Last year Japan also made a donation of $35 million to UNICEF to support the polio eradication campaign. “The new donation from the Japanese Government is a welcome
infusion of desperately needed funds and shows the kind of international
leadership we require," said Bellamy. “While we are
making remarkable progress in the polio eradication effort, a $400 million
funding gap now poses the greatest threat to the programme. Half of
that money is needed by the end of the year.” The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF is one of the largest public health campaigns ever. Last year a record 550 million children were immunized in 82 countries. Reported polio cases numbered 2,857 last year, compared to an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988, when the campaign started. The poliovirus circulates in 20 countries today, down from 125 in 1988. Bellamy warned that complacency now could undo some of these gains. “Despite this success we can not relent in our efforts, because we need to immunise all children before we can certify the world polio-free,” she said. “And failure to interrupt transmission within the next 24 months will make eradication much more difficult and expensive. We have to do it now.” The Japanese donation for this year will provide much needed support to eight of the 20 priority countries where polio continues to threaten millions of children with paralysis and death. These include: Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan. UNICEF will use the contribution to provide oral polio vaccine and the facilities to keep it cold. The money will also support logistics, training and social mobilisation activities – especially for massive country-wide campaigns called National Immunization Days, which require extensive grass roots volunteer efforts to ensure that vaccines reach the homes of every child under five. In addition to the core partners, the polio eradication coalition also includes national governments, private foundations, development banks, donor governments, non-governmental organizations and corporations. More than 10 million volunteers in developing countries also support the campaign by participating in the National Immunization Days. About Polio Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that mainly affects children under three. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Between five and ten per cent of people infected with polio die as a result of the paralysis of their breathing muscles. As there is no cure for polio, the best treatment is prevention. A few drops of a powerful vaccine protect a child for life. ***
*** For further information, please contact: Mohammad Jalloh, UNICEF Media, Liza Barrie, UNICEF Media, New York
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