Embassy of Japan in India: Press Releases from the Embassy

Press Releases from the Embassy
Japan-India Relations
Press Release No.3

JAPAN SUPPORTS POLIO ERADICATION CAMPAIGN IN INDIA
- Rs.23 crore grant to UNICEF

NEW DELHI, 6th June 2005

1.	The Government of Japan agreed today to extend to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) a grant assistance of Rs.23 crore (561 million yen) for the Intensified Pulse Polio Immunization (IPPI) campaign to eradicate poliomyelitis from India. Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged between H.E. Mr. Yasukuni Enoki, Ambassador of Japan to India and Mr.Eimar Barr, Office-in-Charge, UNICEF India country office, at a ceremony held at the Embassy of Japan today.
	*Polio Eradication Campaign in India*
2.	Polio eradication campaign is a world-wide program to wipe out poliomyelitis from the earth by 2006. Presently, only a small number of countries remain to be declared polio-free. India is the most populous country among them; so a joint international effort is being made, involving the Government of India, UNICEF, WHO, donor countries and agencies, together with state governments and NGOs.
	*Japan’s Commitment*
3.	Japan has been supporting the Polio Eradication Campaign in India since 1996. The cumulative amount up to this year will reach Rs.280 crore (6.94 billion yen). As a result of the massive endeavour by the agencies involved, polio cases dropped dramatically last year. Japan reaffirms its commitment to support the campaign to achieve zero transmission in India by the end of 2005
	*Utilization of the Grant*
4.	Japan’s grant will be used for the purchase of 44 million doses of oral polio vaccine and 1 million disposable syringes. The Target area is the north-eastern states and West Bengal.