QUETTA: Government of Balochistan in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO has launched a 7 days emergency vaccination campaign against 9 deadly childhood infectious diseases, Communication Unit of Emergency Operation Cell official told.
Balochistan has the lowest immunization rates in the country- a recent Pakistan Demographic Health Survey reveals that more than 80% of children in the province are not protected against diseases as Childhood tuberculosis, polio, pneumonia , hepatitis B, meningitis, diphtheria , pertussis , tetanus and measles.
Moreover, the province has a high infant mortality rate and 60% of these deaths are due to infectious disease and vaccine preventable diseases. For this campaign our focus is on the children between 4 months and 23 months, says the Secretary Health Balochistan.These children are most vulnerable to the infectious disease, he added.
According to the disease surveillance reports more than 1,200 children have been effected by measles in the province, highlighting that there is a widespread outbreak in the province. Similarly, after being polio free for more than 20 months Balochistan has reported 14 polio cases from Quetta, Killa-Abdullah, Zhob and Khuzdar.
Keeping in the grave situation in view Government of Balochistan has launched an emergency Routine Immunization campaign, starting from 18 High Risk Areas of district Quetta which will be replicated in Killa-Abdullah and Pishin in coming months, said the Minister of Health Rehmat Saleh Baloch 90% of the polio cases in the world are from Pakistan this year and the situation is quite critical, as the global community is concerned about this situation said the Minister.
The temporary sites established by the Government will also provide vaccination against polio at these centers for children under 5.
Statistics suggest measles is a deadly diseases which kills an estimated 21,000 children under the age of 5 every year, and it can lead to severe complications as deafness or complete blindness. Anti-Measles vaccine is the most effective protection against this disease which is available at the centers.
The vaccines will be provided in the community through outreach camps, at a school or a notable's house. These services will be also be available at Basic Health Units and fixed vaccination centers, says Mr Baloch. We urge all the parents to vaccinate their children under 5 years of age to protect them against deadly diseases.
Comments
Comments are closed.