Measles: 15 children brought to hospital in 24 hours

Khasra Bachao Week suffers from poor logistic support.

GUJRANWALA:

At least 15 children were brought to Civil Hospital on Monday night and Tuesday with measles, hospital administration confirmed.

Heath Department has formed vaccination teams at union council level to immunise children against measles. According to officials, vaccine for more than 20,000 children has been ordered, which will be given to the children over the next week.

In Sargodha, Khasra Bachao (protection from measles) Week suffered from poor logistic support for the health workers, The Express Tribune has learnt. Some of the participating workers said that they had not been provided vaccine to be given to the children and that the drive consisted of “just seminars, workshops and hospital visits”.

The district government had organised the Khasra Bachao Week to give Vitamin A capsules to children under 10 years of age. However, the week did not pass as planned as none of the children in the district were given any capsules. Health workers said that they had earlier been instructed to give vaccine to 160 children living around the house where a child was diagnosed with measles.

District government officials later said that the vaccine had not yet arrived and that the children would e vaccinated as soon it did.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2013.