The Government of Japan has provided 1,976,000 doses of oral-polio vaccines (OPVs) worth about US$233,000 to the Government of Nepal at the request of the Child Health Division, Department of Health Services, of the Ministry of Health and Population.
The OPVs will be administered to children under five during the Sub-National Immunization Days (S-NIDs) on January 21st and 22nd, this year.
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Tsutomu Hiraoka
Japanese ambassador to Nepal Tsutomu Hiraoka (File Photo)
Japanese ambassador to Nepal, Tsutomu Hiraoka, handed over the oral polio vaccines to Ram Chandra Man Singh, Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population, amidst a function at the Department of Health Services.
A press release issued by the Japanese embassy in Kathmandu Thursday said that the OPVs will be administered to more than 1.8 million children living in the communities of fifteen districts of the Eastern, Central and Far-Western Development Regions of the country.
The targeted districts are Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Udayapur (partial), Bara, Chitwan, Dhanusha, Parsa, Rauthat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Kailali and Kanchanpur.
“The main objective behind providing the OPVs is to contribute to making Nepal a polio-free zone and safeguarding the lives of Nepalese children from the crippling disease in the targeted high risk Terai districts,” the statement added.
Japan has been providing Nepal with one third of the total requirement of OPVs in coordination with various international agencies since 1997 after Nepal joined the campaign for global polio eradication in 1996. Japan has provided Nepal about 30 million doses of polio vaccines worth approximately 2.5 million US dollars as of January 2006, according to officials at the Japanese embassy in Kathmandu.
Speaking at the function, Ambassador Hiraoka highlighted the Golden Jubilee of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan.
He also informed that the embassy will organize various cultural programs in Kathmandu throughout the 2006 to celebrate 50 years of friendship and to look forward to another 50 years of good relations, the statement said.