Measles outbreak: Court to take action against Punjab CM if deaths not prevented

Lahore High Court asks Shahbaz Shairf, health department officials to submit report over the issue.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday said action will be taken against Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and others responsible if deaths caused by the measles outbreak in the province are not prevented, Express News reported.

The court questioned Director General (DG) Health Punjab Dr Tanvir Ahmed about measures taken to control the damage caused by the outbreak.

The DG Health informed the court that children have been vaccinated and this will help reduce the number of deaths considerably.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the response from DG Health, the court asked Punjab CM and other health department officials to submit their reports over the issue to the court by the next hearing.

According to official reports, more than 1,500 children are suffering from measles. As many as 129 children have died in the province so far.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of measles cases in Pakistan increased from 4,000 in 2011 to 14,000 in 2012.

As many as 306 children died of measles in the country last year, most of them in flood-stricken areas.