58 infants die of tetanus this year

Parents urged to participate in immunisation drive

RAWALPINDI: At least 58 infants died of tetanus, seven of diphtheria and one of measles this year, though these lives could have been prevented by timely vaccination, speakers said at a seminar on immunisation.

They blamed the parents’ inattention and lack of awareness for disregarding timely vaccination, which proved fatal for the deceased children.

To protect children against various infections and diseases, the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Ali Randhawa, has urged parents to fully participate in the province-wide immunisation drive against 10 diseases.



The drive would be conducted from April 24 – 30 with the theme ‘vaccination heroes’. The Punjab government will organise seminars and establish health camps in areas of eight districts with lower coverage than the affluent areas. According to the details, the District Health Authority (DHA) organised a seminar to promote awareness and the usefulness of the vaccination.

The participants were informed that the vaccinations save up to 3 million lives every year however owing to illiteracy and lack of awareness in the country, a number of parents do not avail the vaccination facility despite the fact that it is free of cost. As a result of this, the children become prey to these diseases.

According to Pakistan Demographic Health Service 2018, Punjab topped the list with 80 per cent coverage for vaccination however there was still room for betterment.

It was also disclosed that 58 infants died of tetanus, seven of diphtheria and one of measles during the current year 2019 while all the victims fell prey to their parents’ inattention and lack of awareness regarding the need for a timely vaccination.

The seminar urged the media to create more awareness amongst the masses on these deadly diseases.

On this occasion, child specialist Prof Dr Asghar Roy said the progress on controlling polio was commendable. The children could be protected against 10 deadly diseases if the immunisation was done in a timely manner.

Furthermore, Muhammad Ali Randhawa said the aim of the seminar was to build a partnership for the protection of our future generations.

He said that good health was a basic human right and the problem could not be resolved unless the diseases were completely uprooted.

The DC said there was no such mechanism across the world where parents who did not vaccinate their children in any specific area could be identified therefore the whole area has to undergo a sweeping process if a single case is spotted.

As per the international standard, every single child residing in that particular area was vaccinated. He expressed that according to a scientific research, polio vaccination could not be create any harm to the human body no matter how many times it was done.

He appealed to the parents to have faith in the administration for vaccinating their children so that the country could have a protected and safe future.

RIUKT

The Secretary Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SSHME) Saqib Zafar, rushed to inspect the progress of  the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Kidney Transplant (RIUKT) after Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the delay in project completion.

He instructed the administration to complete the first phase of the hospital’s upgradation by the month of July.

Zafar added that the Out Patient Department (OPD), emergency and dialysis units of the hospital will be made functional in the first phase while the complete hospital will be made functional after completion of the second and third phases.

He added that the funds of Rs200 million for first phase were already issued whereas the remaining funds would be issued as per the patients’ needs.

He assured the remaining phases of the hospital would be completed without any delay according to the wishes of Imran Khan and the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2019.