Six major EPI programmes for children approved
Polio vaccinators, carrying bag of vaccines and documents to collect data, walk through a neighbourhood in Karachi at the start of a nationwide inoculation drive. Photo: Jalal Qureshi/express
The Department of Health Rawalpindi has approved to launch of six major Expanded Programmes on Immunisation (EPI) for children up to 12 years of age and adults at the beginning of the new year.
It has also been decided to hire Pashtun-speaking female vaccinators to successfully run the anti-polio campaigns in Pashtun households in the district. The decision to hire the Pashtu-speaking female has been taken after reports of refusals by families mostly belonging to Pashtun families.
Sources said that to run rigorous anti-dengue campaigns, 2,000 sanitary patrol daily wage employees will also be hired in February next year.
The EPI programme will cover typhoid, polio, dengue virus, nutrition and deworming and the campaign will be launched in the first quarter from January to March next year. Funds for medicines, drops and immunisation injections will be ensured in these campaigns.
Due to the extreme cold, it has been agreed not to launch any campaigns for the next two weeks through December 31st. The anti-dengue campaign will be launched on February 15. It has been decided to thrash out a grassroots micro-plan to contain the dengue spread in the upcoming year. Next year, medical teams will be formed at the union council to the ward level. All areas where dengue were reported the most during the past four years have been declared "red hot zones."
With zero tolerance, these places will be checked for dengue larvae, and regular third-party inspections will also be carried out. It has been decided that waterfowl and ducks would be used to help eradicate dengue larvae in open ponds and small dams in catchment areas next year.
A dedicated health department will be established for children next year
Bikes of vaccinators rusting
Hundreds of motorbikes provided to vaccinators operating under the District Health Authority have been dumped and they are rusting without being auctioned.
The District Health Authority's main office in Khayaban-e-Sir Syed has a yard where these bikes are rusting in the open. Because they were left out in the rain and under the sun.
Unidentified persons have also stolen their valuable components. In 2008, Rawalpindi's health vaccinators received official motorbikes.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2022.