KARACHI, Jan 9: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan on Wednesday asked health officials to intensify the routine immunisation in children across the province to help reduce the rate of mortalities associated with the preventable diseases.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House to mark the introduction of the ‘pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (pcv-10)’ funded by The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), and foundation-stone laying of a government medical college in Hyderabad.

“At a time when you are launching an expensive new vaccine against bacterial pneumonia in children, you must be sure your routine immunisation coverage is up to the mark,” he told health professionals and workers, adding that only an enhanced and quality immunisation could save thousands of children in Sindh and Pakistan from dying of vaccine-preventable diseases.

He noted that about 30,000 children in Sindh died of pneumonia every year before their fifth birthday. “It is really heartening to learn that Pakistan has become the first country to adopt PVC-10 in the public sector’s free immunisation programme in South Asia,” he said and added that under an agreement Gavi would give about $80 million, while the Pakistan government would provide about $17.5m for the vaccines in three years.

About the establishment of a medical college in Hyderabad, Dr Khan said it was a productive venture and as such all stakeholders, including the civil administration, political figures and health authorities, should jointly work for the earliest completion of the project.