Anti-measles drive rescheduled

Published April 24, 2014

KARACHI: A 12-day measles vaccination campaign, which was scheduled to begin next week, has been postponed in Sindh.

The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has rescheduled the drive, which will now begin on May 19, over the failure of the department concerned to devise a micro-plan before its launch.

Sindh EPI project director Dr Mazhar Ali Khammisani, when contacted, said the 12-day anti-measles campaign, which was scheduled to begin on April 28, was rescheduled over some issues and it would now begin on May 19 and continue till May 30.

He said the provincial government would provide security to teams in the high-risk areas of Karachi to make the drive successful. He said the EPI was also planning to launch an anti-polio drive in the province with the measles campaign.

EPI deputy project manager Dr Duray Naaz said about 1.4 million children aged from six months to under 10 years would be administered measles vaccination during the 12-day campaign. She said the EPI focused on all children from six months to under 10 years of age, but its main target would schoolchildren.

She said the measles drive needed skilled vaccinators or staff to administer vaccine. She said the EPI would establish points in each union councils of Sindh and teams to vaccinate children. She said the measles drive needed long-term planning and skilled vaccinators which was the reason behind the delay of the launch of the campaign.

A total of 5,460 measles cases were reported in Sindh in 2013, of whom 151 people died during treatment.

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