TAXILA: The measles and rubella (MR) vaccine shall be administered to children of different communities through outreach centres and schools as the government is determined to make the upcoming campaign a success.

This was said by speakers at a seminar arranged by the District Health Department in Hassanabdal on Sunday.

The seminar was attended by members of the local chapter of Young Doctors Association, Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Academy of Health Physicians and the Pediatric Association. Prominent speakers were District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Mohsin Ashraf, District Health Officer Dr Junaid Sadiq, Deputy District Health Officer Dr Babar Ali, Deputy Director of Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child Health (IRMNCH) Dr

Asif Arbab Niazi, District Coordinator of IRMNCH Dr Saeed Akhter and Unicef representative Dr Nasir.

Rural areas to get special focus; campaign to continue from Nov 15 to 27 in 75 union councils

An aggressive approach shall be adopted to launch awareness campaigns with the help of media, with special focus to be given to rural areas of Attock district.

Dr Mohsin Ashraf said the vaccine would be administered to more than 700,000 children between the ages of nine months and 15 years from Nov 15 to 27 in 75 union councils of Attock district. He said 105 fixed teams and 512 outreach teams would be appointed to make the campaign a success.

Elaborating the importance of vaccination, he said a significant decline was seen in the positivity ratio in areas with high vaccination rates.

“Measles and rubella can be fatal and during my career as a doctor, I have witnessed rubella causing life-long complications among mothers and children,” he added.

Mr Akhter urged clerics, teachers, the traders’ community and civil society to extend support to the campaign in order to protect the district from deadly diseases like measles and rubella.

The health department in collaboration with the education department has made arrangements to make the campaign successful. As many as 88 mobile teams and 15 fixed points would be formed to administer the vaccine.

The in-charge District Anti-Measles Drive, Mohammad Islam, said medical superintendents and principals of government hospitals had been asked to provide lists of vaccinators, according to numbers allotted by the health department.

“Besides, the education department has provided lists of students enrolled in government and private schools to make the campaign successful to the authority,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2021