Indonesia AID donates 10m doses of polio vaccine to Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): The government of Indonesia via its Agency for International Development (Indonesian AID), has sent 10 million doses of polio vaccine to Afghanistan.

The doses will benefit 3.3 million children under the age of three, according to Jakarta Globe.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced that the government, in partnership with the state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma Indonesia, is working to deliver the vaccines, which will be shipped through UNICEF.

"This collaboration, made possible by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and particularly by all Indonesia Aid partners working with UNICEF, is delivering these 10 million doses to reach 3.3 million children under the age of 3 across Afghanistan," Sri Mulyani said on Friday.

According to a statement from Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry, the vaccine shipment was facilitated by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Thursday.

Afghanistan, alongside Pakistan, remains one of the last two nations worldwide still endemic for polio. Limited access to vaccine supplies and inadequate healthcare facilities pose a significant threat to the well-being of children and toddlers in the country.

As a nation actively involved in peace and humanitarian diplomacy, Indonesia is committed to supporting the Afghan people through vaccine assistance to address this situation, the media report concluded.

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