Alarming statistics: ‘46% of K-P’s children miss out on routine inoculation’

Experts say lack of awareness threatening the future of the province.

PESHAWAR:

Around 46% of overall children in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cannot be immunised against various preventable diseases due to several reasons; the foremost being lack of awareness. This was stated by experts during a daylong seminar at Lady Reading Hospital on Thursday in connection with World Immunisation Week.

They said such circumstances were threatening the lives of nearly half of all children living in the province. At the same time, deficiencies in the health department in eradicating diseases were also highlighted by the speakers.

Pakistan Paediatric Association President Professor Dr Amin Gandapur said 90 out of 1,000 children die of preventable diseases even before celebrating their first birthday. He said the only solution to save these children was to educate parents on vaccinations against all such diseases.



“I would suggest the department concerned collect actual data. As far as I can see, the data is incomplete and there should be zero tolerance for misinformation,” Gandapur said. He added the Expanded Programme on Immunization  (EPI) has failed to achieve its objectives in the 36 years it has been running in the country due to the same lack of awareness. He said misconceptions created hurdles, adding parents should bring their children for vaccination rather than police-accompanied health workers having to knock on their doors.

Vital precautions

UNICEF representative Dr Rafeeq said around three million children die annually across the world as they cannot be reached for vaccination due to various reasons. He suggested that routine immunisation be integrated with other health facilities.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr Afzal Khattak said 54% of the target has been achieved, which is higher than other provinces. However, he also said awareness was an important tool to raise this rate to 100%. “We have all the resources available; the workforce and even the budget. Still, we have just reached 54% of the children,” Khattak said.

Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Programme Manager Dr Sahib Gul said besides asking EPI and other officials about the growing incidents of preventable diseases in children, other relevant departments should also be questioned over their failure to provide a clean and healthy environment.

EPI Acting Deputy Director Dr Taimur Shah said routine immunisation would be integrated with other health facilities.

All-out efforts

Shah said the government allocated over Rs2 billion for the K-P Immunisation Support Programme (KPISP) which would allow it to achieve its objectives.

Health Special Secretary Akbar Khan also spoke on the occasion and said it was vital to carry out immunisation not just for a week, but the whole year till the target of vaccinating 100% of the children is achieved.

He also stressed that the programme should be promoted at hujras, mosques, villages and on the street so that parents bring children to the hospital for vaccination. He stressed that the government was putting in all its efforts to root out the diseases posing a threat to the lives of children.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2015.