UAE: Emirates Polio Campaign vaccinates 722,500 kids in Pakistan

As part of the global initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to eradicate polio, the UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme announced that the Emirates Polio Campaign successfully vaccinated 722,500 children in Pakistan between July 20th and 26th. The initiative is considered the world's first polio vaccination campaign since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, Director of the UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme, highlighted that the initiative reflects the UAE leadership’s commitment to strengthen global cooperation to prevent the spread of epidemics, as well as to protect children and support global polio eradication efforts.

Al Ghafli added that the Emirates Polio Campaign was successful in vaccinating 722,500 Pakistani children during the vaccination period, a 94.3 per cent success rate against the campaign’s target of 766,000 children. "This campaign is the first of its kind in the world to vaccinate children against polio since the spread of COVID-19, after a break of nearly 4 months in vaccination efforts," he said.

He said that the campaign targeted areas in Pakistan that had witnessed polio outbreaks, with total cases climbing above 60 cases to date in 2020. The week-long campaign reached areas of high security risk, where children are especially threatened and vulnerable to disease and communities must contend with poor health care infrastructure. The geographical scope of the campaign included tribal areas in the South Waziristan region, the city of Quetta in the Balochistan province, Attock and Faisalabad in Punjab, and Karachi in the Sindh province.

Al Ghafli pointed out that the campaign adhered to stringent planning and preventative measures in response to COVID-19. More than 3,465 vaccination teams and security personnel underwent training on field safety precautions and COVID-19 risks, particularly with regards to dealing with children. They were also equipped with Personal Protection Equipment, PPE, including uniforms, masks, gloves, and sterilisation materials.

As part of the preventative measures taken, parents were involved directly in the vaccination process and were instructed to sanitise their hands before vaccinating their children and to wear masks, which were distributed for free.

Al Ghafli announced that the Emirates Polio Campaign plans to launch a new 10-day effort on August 17, targeting 15,526,000 Pakistani children in 85 regions in Pakistan. An implementation plan has been developed involving 96,000 vaccination and security team members. Since its launch in 2014, the UAE vaccination campaign has provided 455,956,226 polio vaccine doses to more than 86 million Pakistani children.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has committed $327.8 million (Dh1.2 billion) since 2011 to support global efforts to eradicate polio, with a special focus on combatting the disease in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Emirates Polio Campaign works in cooperation with the command of the Pakistani Armed Forces, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Pakistani Ministry of National Health Services, and Ministries of Health offices in the provincial governments. Partners cooperate to deliver vaccines, protect vaccination teams, plan and organise operations for targeted populations, and follow-up on field implementation to ensure the success of the campaign.