The Nepali government is seeking more funds for the campaign against Japanese Encephalitis (JE) for next year, a leading English newspaper, The Himalayan Times reported on Friday.

The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) under the Department of Health Services (DoHS) needs at least 140 million Nepali rupees (1.8 million U.S. dollars) for the campaign to cover another 18 districts, the report said.

According to the newspaper, the campaign will be effective only if the program is conducted at least one-and-half-month prior to the breakout of JE -- March and April.

Chief of EPI Ham Raj Upreti was quoted by the newspaper as saying: "The program could be more effective if we get the funds on time."

"Getting resources has always been the most difficult task and we are doing all we can in this regard," Upreti said.

Even though the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has shown interest in next year's JE campaign, nothing has been finalized yet, he said.

"The Japanese government would provide the fund and UNICEF will distribute the vaccine as discussed earlier, but we are yet to get the final commitment," Upreti added.

This year, the government bought 3.5 million doses of live attenuated vaccine worth 82.4 million rupees (1.1 million U.S. dollars) from China's Chengdu Institute of Biological Products.

According to DoHS, the regular immunization program has helped in checking the increasing number of deaths and the number of people affected by the disease.

Last year, 1,264 JE cases were reported of which 88 patients died in the country, according to DoHS.

Source: Xinhua