HYDERABAD, Oct 28: The government of Pakistan, the Unicef and the WHO will jointly launch an anti-measles campaign throughout the country from Nov 12 to 28 as the disease continued to haunt the country despite its complete eradication from the rest of the world.

EDO of health, Dr Mohammad Sharif Rathore, Unicef representative Dr Waqar Mehmood and district focal person Dr Masood Hussain Jafri said at a news conference at the press club here on Sunday that about 2.1 million cases of measles were reported in Pakistan each year, while the mortality rate stood at 21,000 a year. The government of Pakistan, Unicef and WHO had, therefore, decided to make concerted and collective efforts to eradicate this menace they said.

They said that smallpox and chickenpox had become things of the past as they had been completely eradicated from all over the world, but measles continued to haunt Pakistan and a number of other countries. They said that children between the ages of 9 months and 13 years would be vaccinated against the disease.

Dr Mohammad Sharif Rathore said that eight cases of polio had been reported in Sindh, one each in Khairpur and Thatta and two each in Karachi, Jacobabad and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts.

He said that Hyderabad had re-

mained polio free for the last three years and the District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil would receive a polio free flag from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad on Monday.

The EDO said that Hyderabad was once again exposed to the threat due to resurgence of polio in its adjoining districts. Therefore, a three-day anti-polio campaign would be launched in the district from Oct 30 to Nov 1 during which vitamin-A drops would also be administered to children up to five years of age, he said.

Vitamin-A drops would develop resistance among children against diarrhoea and measles, he said, adding that 297,020 children up to the age of 5 years would be administered polio drops at their homes and other place.

He appealed to parents, elected representatives and general public to cooperate with health teams in making the anti-polio campaign a grand success.