LEAs’ assistance sought for vaccination drive against measles in Sindh

The Sindh government on Wednesday decided to take assistance from law-enforcement agencies for an upcoming vaccination campaign to eradicate measles and rubella in the province.

The decision was reached at a meeting of the provincial steering committee on the campaign to eradicate measles and rubella. The meeting was chaired by Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr Azra Pechuho with Secretary Health Dr Kazim Jatoi and representatives of the education department and World Health Organisation also in attendance.

A statement issued after the meeting read that the health minister advised the vaccination teams for measles to coordinate with the education department that could provide a list of schools, focal persons at those schools, and the number of children and locations of both public and private institutions.

Dr Azra urged the steering committee to work towards social mobilisation and provide a clear timeline for the campaign. She clarified that law enforcement personnel would be present at the fixed sites of the measles vaccination camps as well as accompany the vaccinating teams to ensure safety of all the people involved in the process.

It was decided that parents of all the school-going children would be notified about the campaign via a letter and if they did not give consent for the vaccination, they would need to write to the school admins specifying the reason.

The health minister also stressed the importance of utilising social media to raise awareness regarding the campaign. She said field validation was the most important thing to be reviewed to gauge the situation.

She added that the monitoring checklist would include how the vaccine was being handled, how many people were vaccinated under which team, how the vaccine was being administered, how it was stored and delivered, and whether there were any after effects.