PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Paediatric Association has expressed grave concerns over the deaths caused by measles owing to non-vaccination and has offered its assistance in dealing with the disease, which has become an epidemic these days.

The concerns were voiced by paediatricians at a meeting of PPA steering committee on immunisation held at Khyber Institute of Child Health (KICH), a press release said.

It warned the government against the ongoing epidemic and said that the deaths caused by measles during the past couple of months could have been avoided through vaccination.

PPA president Prof Amin Jan Gandapur, KICH Dean Prof Gohar Rehman and others attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting urged the government to devise a plan in collaboration with the stakeholders to control the disease and save hundreds of affected children and vaccinate people at the earliest. PPA asked its members to notify cases of measles and advise vaccination where it was available to ensure that the people stay safe.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016