Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to support the promotion of polio immunisation in (a) Pakistan, (b) Afghanistan and (c) Nigeria.

The UK works closely with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to support their efforts in promoting and delivering polio vaccination programmes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. We follow developments closely in country through DFID country office staff and through our engagement with GPEI headquarters in Geneva. The successes of the GPEI in Nigeria is evidenced by that country’s achievement of three years without wild polio virus.

During engagement with the GPEI and during bilaterals with the remaining endemic countries the UK stresses the importance of understanding the context-specific blocks to eradication and promoting the great value of immunisation.