ISLAMABAD: A campaign was on Monday launched in the federal capital to vaccinate 688,389 children up to the age of 15 years against measles and rubella (MR).

A similar drive was also launched in the Rawalpindi and Attock districts which will continue till Nov 27.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on CDA Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan opened the campaign at the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) in Islamabad.

During the campaign, 249,251 polio drops would also be administered to children up to five years of age in the capital.

Mr Awan asked the director general Federal Directorate of Education and the Peira chairperson to proactively extend their support to the teams during the drive.

Campaign also begins in Rawalpindi, Attock districts

Director General Health Dr Hasan Orooj explained that MR is a dangerous disease which can be controlled through vaccination. He said children between the age of nine months and 15 years were eligible to receive the vaccination.

Urban Islamabad is divided into 20 zones. The target is 330,488 children for the campaign. Total 245 outreach teams and 40 fixed teams have been formed, he added.

Attock

The drive in Attock was launched by Deputy Commissioner Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh at a hospital.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Mohsin Ashraf, District Health Officer Dr Junaid Sadiq, Deputy District Health Officer Dr Babar Ali, District Coordinator Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child Health Dr Saeed Akhtar and Unicef representatives were also present.

The participants were informed that the measles and rubella vaccine will be administered to 797,376 children in 75 union councils.

There are 105 fix teams and 512 outreach teams to make the campaign a success.

Speaking on the occasion, the DC said rural areas of the district shall be under special focus during the campaign.

“The role of teachers is extremely important so far as school vaccination is concerned,” he added.

A similar drive was also inaugurated in Hazro by Assistant Commissioner Zohaib Ahmed Anjum at the tehsil headquarters hospital.

Talking to media, Mr Anjum said 43,000 children would be targeted in all the union councils of the town.

Moreover, the drive was launched in Taxila to cover more than 292,081 children.

APP adds: Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Mohammad Ali inaugurated the drive by administering drops to a child at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH).

Speaking on the occasion, the DC said no polio case had been detected in the district for over a decade due to frequent drives launched by the district administration but there was a need to remain attentive.

He said during the drive over 0.7 million children below five years of age would get anti-polio drops while 2.3 million children would be jabbed against measles and rubella.

He said foolproof security arrangements had been made for the vaccinators.

Chief Executive Officer District Health Authority Dr Faiza Kanwal said 1,556 outreach teams, 328 medical officers, 1,812 skilled persons besides 1,812 assistants and 3,368 social mobilisers were visiting 210 union councils, including 46 UCs in Metropolitan Corporation Rawalpindi (MCR), 36 in tehsil Rawalpindi, 28 in Rawalpindi Cantonment, 33 in Gujar Khan, 14 in Kahuta, 11 in Kalar Syedan, 10 in Kotli Sattian, 15 in Murree and 17 union councils in tehsil Taxila.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2021