Measles claims a life in Mohmand

GHALLANI: An 11-year-old boy suffering from measles died in Babi Khel, Ghallani, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency, an official of the political administration said on Friday. This is the first case to be reported this year.

The official said, according to sources in Agency Headquarters Hospital Ghallanai, the deceased identified as Hamidullah, 11, son of Rahim Jan, was under treatment at the hospital because he was suffering from measles.

A spell of dry weather has been persisting in the area which is causing cough and chest diseases, especially in children, the political administration official stated.

The incharge of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in Mohmand, Dr Bashir could not be reached for comments.

In the beginning of 2013, an outbreak of measles across Dir and the tribal belt claimed over 100 lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2014.