Govt issued notice: Judicial inquiry sought into measles outbreak

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Wednesday again issued notices to the Punjab government on a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the recent measles outbreak and its causes.

The petition was moved by a lawyer, submitting that the government had failed to prevent an outbreak of the disease, which had killed several children in the Punjab as well as in the rest of the country.

He said that measles was a preventable disease, provided the authorities took precautionary measures. The spread of the disease was a clear failure of the state, he submitted.

The petitioner asked the court to order a judicial inquiry to ascertain how the outbreak had occurred and to direct federal and Punjab government officials to take measures to prevent future outbreaks. The respondents should also be directed to give a detailed report explaining who was responsible for the failure.

The federal and provincial government should also be required to establish a permanent authority to prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as dengue and measles, the petitioner submitted.

The court directed the counsel for the respondents to submit detailed reports on the matter within two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2013.