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MIRPUR ( AJK): , Nov 4 (APP):Provincial Program Manager EPI Azad Kashmir, Dr. Sardar Manzoor Hussain has said that like the whole country, a national campaign for measles and rubella was being started from November 17 to 29 under the auspices of the Public Health Department’s Program for Immunization.
Talking to journalists regarding the national campaign for prevention of measles and rubella, he said in the campaign, children aged 06 months to 05 years would be vaccinated against measles and rubella.
He said that parents must get their children aged 6 months to 5 years vaccinated against a deadly disease like measles, which was the guarantee of a healthy, safe and prosperous future for children.
During this campaign, he said teams consisting of 852 trained people would ensure the vaccination process through outreach sessions at EPI centers in hospitals, schools and community levels.
Measles-rubella was a very dangerous and rapidly spreading infectious disease that caused high fever, red rash on the body, cough, pneumonia and inflammation of the brain in children, he underlined.
“Millions of children are infected with measles every year around the world, while Pakistan ranks second in the world in terms of the number of children infected with measles. Due to the low coverage of the measles-rubella vaccine in the country, a large number of children are deprived of the vaccine every year, which leads to the spread of the virus and measles outbreaks,” he pointed out.
For this reason, a special measles-rubella campaign is organized every 4 years to provide the children with dextrose and additional doses, he added.
In the year 2024 alone, 23,372 children fell victim to measles in Pakistan and 265 children died and 396 children were infected with measles and 5 died in AJK.
In routine vaccination, measles vaccine is administered at the age of 9 months and 15 months, but a large number of children infected with measles are below 9 months of age, so in this campaign, children from 6 months to 5 years would be vaccinated, he added.