DADU, Jan 15: Six more children died of measles in different villages of Dadu district on Tuesday as people continued to wait for the health department’s vaccination teams, supposed to be sent to the areas affected by the outbreak, for a couple of months.

The new victims have been identified as three-year-old Munir Ahmed, son of Nazar Qambrani (Phullo Qambrani village); four-year-old Barkat Ali, son of Qurban Ali (Karam Ali Jamali village); three-year-old Akram, son of Juman Babar, (Jurio Babar village); Ehsan Ali, son of Riaz Alkhani (Sijawal Alkhani village); Sartaj, son of Taj Babar and Irfan, son of Mehboob (Sadojon Jaloon village).

Nazar Qambrani told the media that health officials had not reached Phullo Qambrani village and he lost his son waiting for them.

He appealed to the authorities to immediately send vaccines and vaccinators to the village where at least 12 other children needed urgent medical intervention.

Head of a health centre in Johi Dr Ghulam Mustafa Soomro told Dawn that owing to the outbreak in many villages of the kutcha belt, 20 to 25 cases of measles were being reported at this centre every day for the past four weeks.

He said most cases came from Marri Deero, Simm, Tore, Heero Khan, Wahi Pandhi, Halili, Tando Rahim, Gul Mohammad Rodhnani and Khan villages of the belt within Dadu district.

Meanwhile, a team of the provincial relief department led by Abdul Waheed Panhwar visited the affected villages and shifted six seriously ill children to the health centre and asked for their treatment at the government expense.

Mr Panhwar told the media that more cases would be referred to various hospitals and the relief department was ready to bear the expense.

Health Secretary Aftab Ahmed Khatri who was in Dadu on Tuesday returned to Karachi without visiting any measles-hit village of the district, though he visited the 11 children admitted to the Dadu Civil Hospital isolation ward on a directive of Relief Adviser Haleem Adil Shaikh a couple of days back.

Dadu Deputy Commissioner Nasir Abbas Soomro, DHO Dr Wazir Ali Lund and civil surgeon Dr Javid Ahmed Dawachh accompanied the secretary during the visit.

Focal person of measles in Dadu Dr Karam Ali Shah informed the officials that a total of 110 children affected by measles were treated at government hospitals and four of them could not survive.

He said that on Tuesday the DHO received around 21,000 measles vials. According to him, 210,000 more children will be vaccinated against measles from the new stock. About 100,000 children have already been vaccinated against the disease in the district, he said.

Relief Adviser Mr Shaikh told Dawn on Tuesday that according to his information a total of 24 children had died of measles in Dadu district. He said cases of such deaths at homes were not being reported to the health department or major hospitals. He held the health officials concerned responsible for the increasing number of deaths and accused them of sending fake reports to the health minister and the secretary.

He said he would recommend to the chief minister about a compensation for the deaths.