Vaccination against measles: Parental refusals surface in Pindi

Health official says measles drive takes hits owing to govt focus on polio.

ISLAMABAD: A total of 124,509 children were vaccinated against a set target of 136,912 during the first day of the anti-measles drive that began in the Rawalpindi District from January 26.

District Health Department surveillance officer Dr Eshan Ghani informed The Express Tribune that only 12,403 children were missed during the first day mainly because of parental refusals or lack of presence in schools.

“There are a few private schools in the district where student refused to get vaccinated against measles because they did not get permission from their parents,” he said.

The health department along with the school administration is making efforts to convince parents to allow their children to be vaccinated against measles, he said.

He added that so far the anti-measles campaign is going smoothly in the district and hopefully will be concluded on February 9.

Capital’s drive

In Islamabad, a 13-day measles vaccination campaign is scheduled to begin from February 9 after being postponed several times since the last two years.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) on the condition of anonymity said earlier it was decided that the capital would begin its anti-measles drive with Punjab from January 26.

However, due to various reasons, the anti-measles drive was postponed and now it is scheduled to be carried out from February 9, said the official.

The official said one of the major reasons behind this delay in the capital is the shortage of vaccinators as they remain engaged with the nationwide anti-polio drive one of which concluded last week.

The aim of the government was to complete the nationwide anti-measles drive before the start of its season which is December and finish before its peak in April, said the official.

“However the plan could not materialise mainly because the government’s focus remained on polio eradication,” said the official.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2015.