Better safe than sorry: Anti-measles campaign set to commence on January 26

12-day campaign to cost Rs.2.7 billion.

FAISALABAD/ LAHORE:

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said on Saturday that arrangements for a 12-day anti-measles campaign slated to commence on January 26 had been completed.

He was speaking at the Provincial Anti-Measles Advocacy Conference organised at the Aiwan-i-Iqbal. Rafique exhorted officials from the Health Department including lady health workers and vaccinators to effectively conduct the campaign. He urged them to discharge their duties with a spirit to safeguard the future of the nation.



Rafique said 28.5 million children would be vaccinated under the drive. He said the spread of diseases in the Punjab would be checked at all costs.

Rafique said only 89 cases of measles were reported in 2014 in the Punjab due to a Rs1.5 billion anti-measles campaign launched by the government in 2013. He said none of these cases had been fatal. Rafique said Rs2.7 billion would be spent on the forthcoming campaign.

He said the campaign would conclude on February 9. Rafique urged parents to cooperate with the Health Department and ensure that their children were vaccinated under the drive.

He urged the media to continue raising public awareness regarding health initiatives.

Secretary Jawad Rafiq Malik said the responsibility for making the campaign a success rested with health workers and managers. He said 16,000 teams had been constituted for the drive. Malik said the teams would be equipped with vaccines and anti-reaction medicines.



Director General Zahid Pervaiz said the political leadership and professionals had come together to strive for the cause.

Rana Mushtaq of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the vaccines for the campaign had been procured from the fund.

He said they had been produced in accordance with international quality standards and were being used in 123 countries worldwide. Mushtaq said the Health Department was using state-of-the-art refrigerators to store the vaccines. He said the refrigerators were eight times more expensive than ordinary fridges.

Faisalabad

More than 1.98 million children between six months and 10 years of age would be vaccinated against measles during a 12-day vaccination campaign starting in Faisalabad on Monday (tomorrow), Health Executive District Officer (EDO) Waqar Sadiq said on Saturday.

He was speaking at a meeting that reviewed arrangements for the drive. DCO Noorul Amin Mengal chaired the meeting attended by assistant commissioners and the officers concerned.

Mengal ordered that all-out efforts be made to save children from the disease. He said negligence in this connection would not be tolerated. He said parents should be educated about measles so that they get their children vaccinated against the disease. He urged parents to cooperate with the Health Department and let its teams inoculate their children.

The DCO stressed the need for holding seminars and making announcements through mosques to inform citizens about the campaign. He asked the Health Department to make security arrangements for the vaccination teams.

Mengal said he should be sent reports about the drive daily.

Earlier, the EDO said 1,130 teams would be part of the campaign. He said 125 focal persons should be appointed to make the campaign a success.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2015.