Japan helps finance anti-polio drive

Japan helps finance anti-polio drive

JAKARTA: The Japanese government says it will provide around
US$1.8 million worth of grant aid to help finance Indonesia's
anti-polio drive.

A statement from the Embassy of Japan in Jakarta issued on
Tuesday said that the funds would be channeled via the United
Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for the purpose of preventing an
outbreak of poliomyelitis.

The government launched a massive anti-polio drive when the
first cases were confirmed in May of this year. For a decade
prior to that the country had been declared free of polio.

Late last month, health officers launched a polio vaccination
program in 33 provinces across the country targeting some 24
million children under five. A similar program will be launched
later this month.

The anti-polio drive is being closely monitored by other
countries in the region, which fear the disease could spread,
risking the achievement of the global target of ridding the world
of polio by the end of 2005. --JP