KARACHI, June 19: Coverage of the Expanded Programme on Immunization was between 80 and 90 per cent in the 1980s. Today, it is only between 50 to 60 per cent.

The situation, therefore, instead of improving, has deteriorated over the years, said a well-known paediatrician on Thursday at a seminar on immunization. “A coverage of 50 to 60 per cent is not at all acceptable,” said Prof Ghaffar Billoo of the Aga Khan University.

He said in the late-80s, Pakistan’s immunization programme was receiving accolades from the international community. Today it attracts brickbats.

Prof Billoo said absenteeism among the EPI, in particular, and health department employees, in general, is assuming alarming proportions.

“I ask my students who are either DHOs or THOs about absenteeism and they say that once it used to be between 15 to 20 per cent.

“But today in many cases it is as high as 30 per cent.” He added that fatigue was another problem which had affected the EPI’s performance.

In his presentation, the professor said technical assistance, cold-chain equipment, syringes and vaccines were supposed to be provided by the EPI or CDD cell in the National Institute of Health, Islamabad. The salaries and allowances, on the other hand, were the responsibility of the provincial governments.

He opined that nobody, due to the peculiar distribution of powers, seemed to have ownership of the programme. He suggested that the provincial governments be given the sole charge of the programme after which they could be held accountable for routine as well as special coverages.

Prof Billoo disclosed that the EPI’s vehicles. which were in any case quite old, were often misused by the area influentials after intimidating the EPI staff. He said the absence of accountability was a major reason for the poor coverages.

Later, during a question-and-answer session — in which queries were put to Prof Iqbal Memon, Zeba Bukhari, Shafi M. Shah and Dr Shamsunnisa Ansari, besides Prof Billoo — the child specialist said the EPI seemed to be a half-baked programme.

He said frequent changes of government were also a reason for the poor performance.

Dr Shamsunnisa Ansari, the head of the provincial EPI initiative, in response to a query said only two officers based in Karachi were responsible to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign in the whole of the province. She said vehicles were given to the EPI more than 25 years ago.

“I am willing to take all the blame on behalf of the EPI, but look at the quality of our vehicles and the number of staff available.”