Measles outbreak in Punjab

The issue is far too vital to be put on the backburner by fearful or uninterested politicians.

Another four children died of measles in Lahore over the weekend, while 17 other new cases were reported in an outbreak that is threatening to reach epidemic proportions. In just the first four months of this year, more than 40 children have died of measles and nearly 9,000 children have contracted the disease. This comes on top of a measles crisis that hit Sindh towards the end of 2012, as the provincial government faced a shortage of vaccinations, leading to nearly 100 deaths. Earlier in the year, the city government in Lahore had proposed refusing birth certificates and school admission to children who had not been vaccinated. The intention was a good one but it ignored the reality that vaccinations have now become a controversial political hot potato and there are far too many children who remain unvaccinated, not through their own fault or that of their parents, but simply because workers are too scared to vaccinate children in certain hostile communities.

Diseases like measles and polio are eminently preventable through vaccination but can spread very speedily if the entire population isn’t vaccinated. Just a few years ago, Pakistan was close to being polio-free but the disease is spreading across the country at an alarming rate. The idea of vaccinations is now so tied to anti-West conspiracy theories that those working to administer these vaccinations are being killed. In such a situation, the government, NGOs and international aid organisations have not only to try and vaccinate as many children as possible but also launch awareness campaigns laying out the risks of polio and measles so that basic medicine is not held hostage to political theatrics.

This issue is far too vital to be put on the backburner by fearful or uninterested politicians. Right now, just above 50 per cent of children in Punjab have received vaccinations for measles. This is a pitiful number when considering there is no shortage of vaccinations. The only shortage we have is that of political courage.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2013.