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MIRPUR, Nov 15 (APP): In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, a 13-day anti-measles special campaign was launched on Saturday in all 10 districts of the liberated territory for raising awareness among the masses, especially parents, about adopting precautionary measures to avert the threat of the deadly viral disease of measles to their children of the age of 6 months to 5 years.
As many as 600,526 children of the age from 6 months to 5 years are targeted to be inoculated against measles and rubella diseases.
Special inaugural ceremonies at the district headquarters under the auspices of the State Health Department, hosted on Saturday, were the hallmark of the advent of the drive.
Elaborating on the salient features of the campaign, State Health Department sources told APP on Saturday that since some cases of measles and a few outbreaks were reportedly surfaced in some districts of AJK, and the AJK Health Department felt that massive outbreaks of measles might occur in AJK, the Health Department organized a special measles campaign with the help of WHO, UNICEF, and the Federal EPI Cell in all districts of AJK.
According to the strategy plan of the campaign, the campaign will continue till November 29 without any pause from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. Three types of teams, including fixed centers, outreach, and mobile teams, have been formed for the execution of the campaign.
The teams will sit in EPI Centers located in the BHU, RHC, and hospitals; the outreach teams will visit public & private schools/madrasas and prominent places in the villages; and mobile teams will go to difficult areas. For this campaign 463 outreach teams were organized, and 389 fixed centers were established.
For supervision/monitoring of this campaign from the district to the UC level, more than 853 teams led by supervisors are placed. As well as WHO, UNICEF will also monitor this activity.
The State Health Department authorities have, meanwhile, requested that the parents, civil society, teachers, and every citizen of AJK cooperate with the teams for the successful campaign. The sources further added that as with the cooperation of the media and civil society, especially the Govt. of AJK and staff of the Health Department.
The sources requested the parents that by this vaccine the child will be protected from this serious disease and its complications like pneumonia, malnutrition, and meningitis.
The sources added that if a child becomes sick, the whole family is disturbed, which leads ultimately to the economical burden on the family, and if a child is vaccinated against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases for which the Govt. of AJK was offering free vaccines, ultimately a healthy nation will emerge. “Children are our future, and it is a long-term investment in our future nation,” the sources remarked.