SHANGLA/MARDAN: The health department has reported over 400 measles cases in various parts of Shangla district.

Expanded Programme on Immunisation coordinator Dr Mohammad Hussain told Dawn on Wednesday that the department planned to begin a vaccination campaign against measles from Nov 15. He said rubella and polio diseases would also be covered under the campaign.

He said the drive would continue till Nov 27, in which 333,000 children would be vaccinated against the three diseases. He said children from nine months to 15 years would be administered with measles and rubella vaccines and children under 5 would be given anti-polio drops.

The EPI coordinator said 306 teams had been constituted for the campaign, who would vaccinate children in hospitals, hujras, mosques, seminaries and other public places.

He said the lady health workers were also engaged in the campaign to visit door-to-door in their respective catchment areas to vaccinate the children.

Meanwhile, the Mardan district administration has committed to making the 12-day vaccination drive against rubella and measles as success.

The decision was taken at a meeting held on Wednesday with deputy commissioner Habibullah Arif and district police officer Dr Zahidullah and other officials in attendance.

“The drive will start from Nov 15 and continue till Nov 27. During the campaign, about 1.5 million of vaccines will be administered to children aged between nine months and 15 years,” deputy commissioner Habibullah Arif said.

He said 79 fixed and 1,052 mobile teams would be deployed for the purpose. He said the fixed teams would administer vaccines in basic health units, while the mobile teams would visit hujras and mosques for the purpose. He asked the police to deploy personnel for the security of vaccinators.

Mr Arif appealed to elders and prayer leaders to extend cooperation in this connection.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2021