The national extended immunisation programme which targets about 33 million children under the age of five years, boasts high coverage rates but the rising number of cases tells a different story.
LAHORE: The Extended Programme for Immunisation (EPI) has evolved a new strategy through which special focus would be given on pockets of low coverage of immunisation in different areas, starting from southern Punjab.
Pregnant women and infants would be the target for ensuring immunisation, said Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Secretary Ali Jan Khan while presiding over a pre-stocktaking meeting with Michael Barber, the representative of Department for International Development (DFID), UK on Thursday.
He claimed special focus was being given to improvement in health of mothers and children and key indicators of primary healthcare and mother and child health were improving rapidly under the chief minister’s health reforms programme.
The health department has chalked out a plan for the improvement of EPI coverage in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan districts while the integrated, reproductive, mother, newborn child health department is working to introduce referral system from 700 BHUs under 24/7 programme to rural health centres for shifting seriously ill patients.
The department has launched a pilot programme in a few districts for improvement in data reporting system of deliveries for which an Android-based real time system has been introduced.
Ali Jan said steps were being taken for the improvement of primary and secondary healthcare in Punjab, and the department would introduce three new vaccines in 2017 for rotavirus, DPT booster doze and hepatitis B birth dozes for newborns.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2016.
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