PESHAWAR: The health workers and mobilises are convincing the few mothers, who want to avoid vaccination of their children on different pretexts, in the 12-day measles campaign started on Monday last throughout the province.

“An estimated 20,000 children, who were destined to miss vaccination, were immunised against measles. We checked record and applied social mobilisation strategies to convince the mothers. The issue is prevalent mainly in Peshawar, Bannu and Lakki Marwat where mothers claim that their children have already been vaccinated at the centres of the expanded immunisation at the hospitals,” Dr Ayub Rose, the director-general health services, told Dawn.

He said that 80 per cent of the vaccinators were women to achieve the desired result of the drive and ensure reaching girl children. “The response is very positive,” he added.

Dr Ayub said that except two districts, during the campaign they covered 4.8 million children of nine to 56 months in hujras, mosques and public places to prevent measles, which had become endemic in the province. The countrywide vaccination drive was in response to cases of measles, he added.

4.8 million children vaccinated during the first few days of campaign

He said that involvement of district administration and lawmakers was basic reason for smooth going of the campaign.

He said that outbreaks of measles could be avoided only through vaccination.

Dr Ayub said that the target was 400,000 children per day.

“We have deployed a team for outreach activities, including social mobilisers, to cope with cases of refusals with support of community elders and elected representatives,” he added.

He said that some parents did not posses immunisation cards that made it difficult to trace the record of the child. However, he said that they were able to immunise them the same day.

Dr Ayub said that the women pretending to have vaccinated their children were told by the teams that the intramuscular injection was meant to safeguard their children against measles.

Measles is one of 10 vaccine-preventable childhood ailments for which free vaccination is provided at 1,500 fixed EPI centres in the province. These centres receive children for vaccination.

Dr Ayub said that number of EPI technicians working at those centres had been increased from 1,350 to 3,300 during the last one year.

“They are laced with mobile phones from which the field workers keep contact with the health department,” he added.

According to Pakistan Demographic Survey 2017, he said, 57 per cent children were fully immunised in the province. “Now, there are indications that it would be around 75 per cent, as reports coming from facilities said it is 80 per cent,” he added.

He said that they wanted to scale up immunisation to 90 per cent by 2020.

He said that vaccination was essential for all children and people should visit government health facilities to vaccinate their children against the diseases at the EPI centres.

The official said that Pakistan Paediatrics Association and Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan had also been involved to increase ratio of fully immunised children in the province.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2018