The UAE Embassy to Berlin, Germany, in cooperation with the Court of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Image Nation, yesterday held a discussion on polio and ways to address and eradicate it in Pakistan .

An elite group of international experts participated on the panel. During the discussions, there was a presentation of selected clips from the "Until the Last Child" documentary, which highlighted the suffering of people with polio and the challenges faced by the Pakistani government as well as medical care teams.

In his welcoming speech, Juma Mubarak Al Junaibi, the UAE Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, underscored the importance of children's health and its protection irrespective of their country, ethnicity and religion.

He highlighted the pioneering role being played by the UAE in humanitarian work regionally and globally saying that the UAE has achieved first position as the world's largest donor nation of Official Development Assistance, ODA, in 2013.

Ameer Khurram Rathore, Deputy Head of Mission of Pakistan's Embassy in Germany, noted the great success achieved by the recent vaccination campaigns, saying that the rate of polio cases has declined by 70 % this year.

He added that the Pakistani Government has faced misconceptions released by militant groups on the vaccine, and that the country could build confidence bridges through the assistance provided by UAE PAP, the United Arab Emirates Pakistan Assistance Programme, supported by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.