19% more kids miss out on polio vaccine
Compared to previous campaign, parental refusal cases also increase
A health-worker administers the polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Quetta on Saturday. The anti-polio drive remains suspended in many parts of Balochistan due to security concerns. PHOTO: NNI
ISLAMABAD:
A 19 per cent increase has been witnessed in the number of children who missed out on vaccination in the third nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year compared to the previous drive held last month.
As many as 430,000 kids reportedly missed out on vaccination in the third campaign; 75,239 children could not be vaccinated in high-risk union councils (UCs), according to the documents available with The Express Tribune. In the previous drive, however, the number of children that missed out on polio shots stood at 360,000.
The documents revealed a slight increase in the number of parental refusal cases: from 35,818 in the second drive to 38,586 in the third campaign. Of these, 11,507 were recorded in high-risk UCs.
For the third time this year, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of parental refusals with 16,864. Compared to the previous campaign, however, a decline was witnessed, as there had been 27,742 refusals.
Sindh recorded 14,723 refusals, Balochistan 4,776, Punjab 1,339, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) 853 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 31.
Of the 128 lot quality assurance sampling in Balochistan, Fata and Punjab, only 78 could pass the quality test and 16 failed. Of the 15 samples in Balochistan, only nine passed and 15 failed; the rest were intermediate.
Dr Rana Safdar, in-charge of the National Emergency Operation Cell, said the result was based on five-day data, adding that data collection was still under way and would hopefully be completed by March 30.
He said catch-up activities were under way across the country and teams were trying to reach out to the children who have yet to be vaccinated.
“A two-week catch-up activity has been planned in which social mobilisers will reach out to all the missed children and hopefully this will help bring down the number to a great extent.”
Dr Safdar said children were regularly being missed in 554 high-risk UCs across the country; therefore, 11 data support centres were set up to record and track all these children in 31 districts for the first time.
He said the campaign in Islamabad and Quetta was postponed due to the March 23 parade security engagements, adding that the drive in Rawalpindi kicked off on March 24.
Third-party independent monitoring was initiated in all phases of the campaign (before, during and after) for the first time, which helped determine the accurate number of under-five children in the country and the quality of the campaign, he added.
Dr Safdar said a cumulative comparison of 2014 and 2015 campaigns conducted to date showed that coverage had improved from 94 to 98 per cent.
The point-in-time comparison of cases shows almost 60 per cent reduction in case load in 2015: 20 compared to 50 last year, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2015.
A 19 per cent increase has been witnessed in the number of children who missed out on vaccination in the third nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year compared to the previous drive held last month.
As many as 430,000 kids reportedly missed out on vaccination in the third campaign; 75,239 children could not be vaccinated in high-risk union councils (UCs), according to the documents available with The Express Tribune. In the previous drive, however, the number of children that missed out on polio shots stood at 360,000.
The documents revealed a slight increase in the number of parental refusal cases: from 35,818 in the second drive to 38,586 in the third campaign. Of these, 11,507 were recorded in high-risk UCs.
For the third time this year, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of parental refusals with 16,864. Compared to the previous campaign, however, a decline was witnessed, as there had been 27,742 refusals.
Sindh recorded 14,723 refusals, Balochistan 4,776, Punjab 1,339, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) 853 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 31.
Of the 128 lot quality assurance sampling in Balochistan, Fata and Punjab, only 78 could pass the quality test and 16 failed. Of the 15 samples in Balochistan, only nine passed and 15 failed; the rest were intermediate.
Dr Rana Safdar, in-charge of the National Emergency Operation Cell, said the result was based on five-day data, adding that data collection was still under way and would hopefully be completed by March 30.
He said catch-up activities were under way across the country and teams were trying to reach out to the children who have yet to be vaccinated.
“A two-week catch-up activity has been planned in which social mobilisers will reach out to all the missed children and hopefully this will help bring down the number to a great extent.”
Dr Safdar said children were regularly being missed in 554 high-risk UCs across the country; therefore, 11 data support centres were set up to record and track all these children in 31 districts for the first time.
He said the campaign in Islamabad and Quetta was postponed due to the March 23 parade security engagements, adding that the drive in Rawalpindi kicked off on March 24.
Third-party independent monitoring was initiated in all phases of the campaign (before, during and after) for the first time, which helped determine the accurate number of under-five children in the country and the quality of the campaign, he added.
Dr Safdar said a cumulative comparison of 2014 and 2015 campaigns conducted to date showed that coverage had improved from 94 to 98 per cent.
The point-in-time comparison of cases shows almost 60 per cent reduction in case load in 2015: 20 compared to 50 last year, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2015.