LAHORE, April 3: The World Health Organisation-backed anti-measles vaccination campaign ended on Thursday without covering thousands of schoolchildren, primarily because of the obstinacy of some elite schools in Lahore who refused to cooperate with the government on the issue.

According to official sources, the three-week province-wide campaign failed to achieve its target of vaccinating about

35 million children aged between nine months and 13 years, except in Gujrat, where the activity had been piloted last year.

The government had set up 76,000 vaccine points in Punjab and formed 12,000 teams for the purpose. Some 18,000 skilled and 40,000 unskilled people participated in the campaign.

The sources said despite being warned of `strict action’ by the provincial authorities concerned, a number of ‘defiant’ private schools, especially the elite ones, refused to allow their students to get vaccinated against the disease.

Lahore Health EDO Dr Inamul Haq told Dawn on Thursday that the students of all the branches of the Lahore Grammar School, LACAS, Choueifat and some of the City Public School System remained unvaccinated. Besides, the administrations of the Convent of Jesus and Marry and Queen Marry School also did not allow the special teams to vaccinate the students, he said and added that over a two-dozen ‘unregistered’ schools opened in private residences also refused to comply with the official orders.

Dr Haq said the health authorities were disappointed by the weird behaviour of the elite schools whose administrations were under the impression that the vaccine the government had been using in the campaign was ‘not genuine.’ In response to the government’s queries the schools’ administrations continued using delaying tactics and most of them took the plea that they were waiting for the parents’ consent to get their children vaccinated.

“For the sake of the students who are not covered in the anti-measles campaign, the government is still ready to spare a special vaccination day provided the school’s administrations conveyed their willingness,” he maintained.

He said the health and education authorities would write to the governor and chief secretary for cancellation of the registration of defiant schools with the education department.

“What impression this kind of attitude will leave on the WHO and Unicef which had provided the vaccine. This is a criminal act and such schools should not consider themselves above the law,” he said and cited an example of Belgian parents who were sent to prison for not allowing a government team to vaccinate their children against polio.

The EDO further maintained that since the measles virus was prevalent, the responsibility for any student falling victim to the disease would rest with the school administration concerned.