A vaccine to protect against a deadly disease itself becomes the cause of death
HYDERABAD: A recent news story in a national daily reported the death of three children in Nawabshah district of Sindh after they were administered anti-measles vaccine by a lady health worker, who apparently, while ignoring the necessary directives of vaccination injected the dose to the children. The incident is certainly not the first of its kind in the country, where a vaccine to protect against a deadly disease itself becomes the cause of death.
Such happenings are likely to have two effects: on the one hand, parents might become even more skeptical of health drives conducted by government health departments while on the other, it puts the competence of public health workers and their skill and knowledge about the job under question. These need to be sorted before carrying out any such drives.
Muhammad Azam
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2018.
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