Measles, polio campaigns: ICT fails to begin drive alongside CDA

Vaccination drives in urban areas from today.

ISLAMABAD: The health department of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), due to its inability to complete arrangements, would not be able to begin vaccination drives against measles and polio at the same time as CDA.

Vaccination drives against measles and polio will begin in the urban areas of the capital from today (Monday) while similar campaigns in rural areas are expected to begin with a week’s delay.

The ICT will begin its campaigns from February 16.

CDA’s directorate of health services (DHS) is all set to launch the much-awaited and already delayed anti-measles drive as well as this year’s second nationwide anti-polio drive in the urban areas of the city.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) National Programme Manager Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar said the DHS had completed all necessary arrangements last year for the 13-day measles vaccination campaign but the ICT failed to prepare according to plan.

He said the DHS was short of human resource to carry out the vaccination drive as it did not have lady health workers (LHWs) to meet the requirement of going doo-to-door.

Safdar added that the DHS had to request private and public hospitals for nursing staff and medical students, among others to overcome the shortage.

“On several occasions in the past, CDA had approached hospitals for the said purpose but on every instance the drive got postponed. Therefore, this time around, the federal EPI asked DHS to hold the campaign as planned,” he said.

Safdar said this would also help build pressure on the ICT to carryout the anti-measles drive as soon as possible because any further delay would disturb the upcoming anti-polio campaigns.

“Moreover, our aim is to carryout the anti-measles drive across the country till April, which is the peak transmission season of the disease,” he said.

Sharing further details about the campaigns, Safdar said Sindh and Punjab had carried out anti-measles drives. “Currently, federal capital, Gilgit-Baltistan, Fata and Balochistan are left”, he added.

According to an independent third-party evaluation report the coverage of anti-measles drive in Sindh remained 95 per cent, which is satisfactory, Safdar said.

CDA anti-measles drive

Talking to The Express Tribune, CDA Director Health Services Dr Hassan Urooj said a total of 260,000 children from six months to 10 years of age would be targeted in the 13-day drive.

The urban capital has been divided into 10 zones, where 75 outreach teams and 35 fixed centres have been established in public healthcare facilities as well as at other points to vaccinate children against measles and polio, he said.

Mohammad Kashif, in-charge polio cell at the ICT, said they would start campaigns against both the diseases from February 16 hopefully, adding that preparations were under way to ensure maximum coverage.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2015.