PESHAWAR: The health department has launched vaccination campaign in response to outbreak of measles and diphtheria in 69 high-risk union councils of southern districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The director expanded programme on immunisation, Dr Mohammad Arif Khan, told this scribe that the drive would continue till July 24.

He said that more than 200,000 children below two-month would be targeted during the campaign to save them from all 12 vaccine-preventable childhood ailments.

He said that it was first of the three rounds of the drive one month apart planned by health department to scale up immunity of people.

The campaign will continue till July 24 in 69 high-risk union councils

He added that a province-wide campaign would commence on July 31 to immunise 1.1 million children.

Dr Arif said that children could also be immunised in 1,800 EPI fixed centres in government hospitals.

“Measles has killed 20 persons in the province this year so far. During the activity, our field staff will cover all children with focus on those, who haven’t received even a single dose of any vaccines,” he added.

He said that EPI 3,500 technicians vaccinated 50 per cent children, who were brought to them by mothers for vaccination in central districts of the province. But the ratio was about 15 per cent in southern districts, he added.

The EPI director said that six districts including South and North Waziristan, Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan recorded most of the 4,000 measles cases.

He said that first dose of measles vaccine must be given to newborns at six months instead of nine months and then at 12 to 15 months while boaster should be administered to them at the age of four to six years to control the infectious disease.

Measles, a vaccine-preventable childhood infection, spreads easily and could prove fatal for small children.

“Cases are reported among children below nine months. Measles antibodies are passed by pregnant women to their babies in the womb, protecting infants early in life. These antibodies actually disappear quicker than they have been previously recognised, leaving babies vulnerable to the sometimes fatal infection for much of their first year of life,” said Dr Arif.

Dr Mohammad Hussain, the president of Pakistan Paediatrics Association (PPA), said that every fifth child under-one year of age was not completely vaccinated as required.

He said that the ongoing vaccination campaign in the high-risk union councils would expedite the attempts to boost routine immunisation coverage.

“The probability of disease outbreaks in the post-Covid-19’s era reaches very high because of recession in vaccination coverage. Inadequate sustainable resources for vaccination and an increase in vaccine hesitancy due to incorrect information are the major reasons for the decline in coverage,” he said.

Dr Hussain, who is also member of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group, said that inability of the authorities concerned to effectively implement and maintain routine vaccination coverage left children at higher risk to all the 12 vaccine-preventable diseases including polio, tetanus, measles and diphtheria, pneumonia, typhoid fever, hepatitis and pertussis.

He appreciated health department for launching the much-needed campaign. He urged parents, teachers, doctors, journalists, religious scholars and every member of community to come forward and support the campaign.

“These vaccines are not just for the protection of our own children but they also protect the people of all ages in our community including those, who are too young to get vaccinated against certain diseases, and those, who may be unable to respond to a vaccine, or who might be specifically susceptible to serious diseases and their complications for other reasons like HIV or malignancies,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023