Delegation arrives to monitor EPI progress

At 65%, current immunisation level is below satisfactory, says official

ISLAMABAD: A joint appraisal mission of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) has arrived in Pakistan. The purpose of the visit is to review the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

An official in the federal EPI who wished not to be named said that the high-level delegation was visiting to assess progress made by the federal EPI. The intent is to monitor progress against the financial support received to strengthen the routine immunisation in the country.

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Sharing the details, the official said that last year this high level delegation visited Pakistan and committed to give $100 million for strengthening routine immunisation across the country.

This year they have come to assess how much EPI has fulfilled the criteria to receive the financial grant, he said.

Moreover, this year Pakistan has also submitted an application to get this financial support which was a formal procedure to get the amount, he said.

“Currently the coverage of routine immunisation is just close to 65 per cent which is below satisfactory level,” said the official.

The official said that the main reason behind low coverage of routine immunisation is that the government’s major focus remained on eradicating polio.

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The official said that in Pakistan vaccine preventable diseases kill on an average 1,000 children daily, an alarming and worrisome number.

“Just through routine immunisation these lives could easily be saved,” he said.

The Express Tribune tried to contact Dr Saqlain Gillani, national manager EPI but he was not available for a comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2015.