Change of guard: EPI gets new head

Dr Ejaz Khan assumes charge as immunisation programme national manager.

ISLAMABAD:

The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) got a new head on Friday.

Dr Ejaz Khan, who was serving as the EPI surveillance director, assumed charge as national manager, according to a notification issued by the ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC).

His appointment came after Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar was sent back to his parent department --- National Institute of Health (NIH) --- on his own request.

Safdar was appointed national manager last year in a bid to improve the programme.

A senior official at the ministry requesting not to be named told The Express Tribune that there was a dire need to revitalise the entire programme.

According to him, there were many districts in the country where the routine immunization coverage was below average due to poor infrastructure.

The Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012-13 findings reveal that at the federal level only 74 per cent children of aged 12 to 23 months were vaccinated last year against the 80 per cent immunization coverage recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“The poor coverage was clearly reflected through the massive outbreak of measles in the capital last year and officials hid the exact number of cases just to cover their incompetency,” said the official.

At present, health departments of both the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) are short of vaccinators and those who are available remain busy in anti-polio drives throughout the year.

After the devolution of the health ministry, provinces are responsible to look after their own EPI cells. However, they do not seem serious about improving the routine immunisation.

“Majority of districts in Balochistan, interior Sindh and Punjab lack proper infrastructure to vaccinate their children against nine vaccine preventable diseases and in FATA they do not have proper system to even make ice packs to maintain the cold chain,” said the official.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2014.