Health woes: Over 329,000 children die annually from lack of vaccination: experts
Mother and Child Week commences in AJK.
MIRPUR:
Over 329,000 children between the age of nine months and five years die each year in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) due to a lack of lifesaving vaccinations and insufficient diet.
This was the opinion of medical experts during a seminar held in Kotli District under the National Programme for Population Welfare and Basic Health.
The experts claimed that 39 per cent of deliveries in AJK are handled by trained medical staff, while the remaining 61 per cent were undertaken by untrained midwives, which was also a major reason behind high mortality rates in the region.
In addition to that, they explained that typhoid and diarrhoea accounted for 13 per cent and 19 per cent of children’s deaths respectively.
Meanwhile, a special week titled ‘Mother and Child Week’ commenced in AJK on Monday under the AJK Health Department.
The week focuses on taking preventive measures against loss of lives during pregnancy and delivery, besides ensuring steps to curb the spread of diarrhoea, typhoid and measles among children.
Under the programme, special mobile teams of paramedical staff from the region’s health department will go door-to-door to vaccinate children below the age of five years. They will also provide medicines to overcome stomach diseases, said district health officer.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.
Over 329,000 children between the age of nine months and five years die each year in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) due to a lack of lifesaving vaccinations and insufficient diet.
This was the opinion of medical experts during a seminar held in Kotli District under the National Programme for Population Welfare and Basic Health.
The experts claimed that 39 per cent of deliveries in AJK are handled by trained medical staff, while the remaining 61 per cent were undertaken by untrained midwives, which was also a major reason behind high mortality rates in the region.
In addition to that, they explained that typhoid and diarrhoea accounted for 13 per cent and 19 per cent of children’s deaths respectively.
Meanwhile, a special week titled ‘Mother and Child Week’ commenced in AJK on Monday under the AJK Health Department.
The week focuses on taking preventive measures against loss of lives during pregnancy and delivery, besides ensuring steps to curb the spread of diarrhoea, typhoid and measles among children.
Under the programme, special mobile teams of paramedical staff from the region’s health department will go door-to-door to vaccinate children below the age of five years. They will also provide medicines to overcome stomach diseases, said district health officer.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.