PESHAWAR, Aug 22: The health department in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and Unicef has launched a 15-day ‘measles elimination drive’ in 12 districts of the NWFP and three tribal agencies.

The first phase of the campaign was carried out in March this year.

The second phase of the campaign started on August 20 and would continue till September 5.

Officials said that about 4.196 million children below the age of 13 years would be vaccinated against the disease in the province.

They said other plans were also afoot for controlling measles.

The WHO had reported about 450 cases of measles last year in major hospitals, whereas the health department reported 225 cases from the whole province the same year, they added.

The remaining districts in the province and tribal agencies would be covered in the third phase of the campaign to be held in November.

According to the WHO officials, measles is one of the major causes of infant mortality. It is an infectious disease which affects a large number of children globally. In Pakistan, they say, 2.1 million children suffer from this disease annually while 21,000 children die due to complications caused by it every year.

They said that the campaign was part of world’s largest measles immunisation initiative being carried out in 40 districts of Pakistan. More than 63 million children would be immunised in the campaign, they added.

The officials said that the first phase was conducted in Dadu district of Sindh, Gujrat in Punjab, Mardan in the NWFP and Mirpur in the AJK.

A total of 2.51 million children were vaccinated, they claimed.

The official said that WHO had provided technical assistance in developing, planning and implementation strategies for the measles campaign in Pakisntan.

They said that the case-based measles surveillance was being revived in those districts where campaign was launched in phase I and II.

After its completion, the officials added, the campaign would be conducted throughout the country.