PESHAWAR: A two-week vaccination campaign against 10 fatal diseases kicked off in tribal districts on Wednesday.
In this campaign, children aged below two years in seven tribal districts and six sub-districts will be administered vaccination through injections and drops.
Director Health Services in merged districts Dr Shah Faisal said the children will be vaccinated against measles, hepatitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, polio and other fatal diseases during the campaign.
Dr Shah Faisal said the Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) has completed arrangements for the vaccination campaign in the merged districts. He said camps have been established in mosques, madrassas, hujras and public places to make sure that every child gets vaccination against fatal diseases. He said the vaccination teams are providing vaccine to the children under the supervision of the EPI Deputy Director Dr Usama Shabbir. He said teams have also been set up for monitoring of the campaign.
The Health Services director said vaccination campaign could not be initiated in Kurram and Orakzai tribal districts on Wednesday due to Muharramul Haram processions. He said vaccination in these two tribal districts will kick off on Saturday, September 14.
Dr Shah Faisal said it is the responsibility of government and parents to save their children from diseases by providing them vaccination on timely basis. He said a large awareness campaign for parents has been initiated for this purpose. He said the teams of Health Department are in contact with the parents and opinion leaders in the society and informing them about the importance of vaccination.
Dr Shah Faisal further said that monitoring has been carried out to make sure that every child gets vaccination. He said the campaign will control the fatal disease in the merged districts to a great extent. He said the campaign will put a positive impact on health indicators in the merged districts.
Vaccination drive in rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also kicked off on Wednesday and will continue till September 22.
Health officials have urged the parents to actively participate in the vaccination process and save their children from the fatal diseases. The campaign is going on smoothly in KP and tribal districts.