ISLAMABAD, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's government approved 1.78 billion U.S. dollars in funds to support the polio eradication emergency plan to end the crippling poliovirus in the South Asian country.
The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said that the emergency plan was approved on Monday to enhance national efforts and momentum to root out polio, officials from the health ministry told Xinhua Tuesday.
The project included grants and loans from Global Polio Eradication partners, the Islamic Development Bank and the French Development Agency.
The project will supply polio eradication vaccines all over Pakistan and will be executed by the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.
According to the Pakistani health ministry, two cases of poliovirus have been reported in 2023 in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Despite the virus being periodically detected in sewage samples in other parts of the country, it has remained restricted in KP province since 2021. ■