The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has pointed out that thousands of children continue to remain vulnerable to measles, a disease that is "entirely preventable through vaccination". In a letter, addressed to Director General Health Services Sindh, the SHRC's Chairman Iqbal Ahmed Detho referred to measles related deaths of 132 children besides existence of 6,670 confirmed cases in the province in 2024 to sound the alarm.
He stated that the commission has taken suo-moto notice of the reports about deaths, confirmed cases and around 13,000 suspected cases which surfaced the following year. "In the light of the gravity of the situation, the SHRC has taken suo-motu notice of the matter under Section 4 (i) of the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act, 2011."
The chairman lamented that it is evident that not only the number of the confirmed cases was significantly higher, but a rapid increase in the diseases has also been witnessed. "Under the Act, 2011, it is strongly recommended that the current measles outbreak in Sindh be declared an epidemic," he suggested.
He said the health authorities should fulfill the necessary procedures to enable initiation of special measures to prevent and contain the outbreak as outlined in sections 11 to 22 of the Sindh Immunisation and Epidemics Control Act, 2023. Detho reiterated that the measles vaccine is mandatory.
The SHRC's chairman asked the health department to pace up their efforts during the routine vaccination exercises to ensure optimal coverage at the union council levels. He also emphasised on the need of kick-starting awareness campaigns in the high-risk areas in order to mitigate the disease's spread and to protect the vulnerable populations. He requested the health department to treat his correspondent as 'urgent' and a matter of 'top priority'.
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