Winter woes: Pneumonia often proves fatal for infants

Drive to vaccinate children underway.

MUZAFFARABAD:

If adequate precautions are not taken, children below the age of one year may catch infectious diseases like pneumonia, which often prove to be fatal. This is particularly true for Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad and Hattian Bala in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

“If this disease is not treated on time, it often results in the child’s death,” said Dr Reyaz Sheikh, while talking to The Express Tribune. He said parents should take care of their children from December to February particularly, those below one year of age. The AJK health department has not taken the issue seriously as every day dozens of parents bring their infants in the main three  hospitals, Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences  (AIMS) Ambur, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital Athmuqam Neelum Valley and nearby basic health units.

The parents demanded the AJK government and health department  to vaccinate their children to protect them from the all kinds of diseases including pneumonia.

Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences Director General Dr Qurban Mir said the health department was working round the clock to administer pneumococcal vaccines across AJK, however, he admitted the drive was proceeding at a slow pace.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2013.