Infected Sindh

The country’s first polio case of 2013, which Pakistan is observing as the year of children, has been detected in the Bin Qasim township of Karachi and measles took the life of thee more in Kandhkot, district Badin, making Sindh the most infected province where more than 450 have fallen prey to this disease although Punjab is also reported to have hit by this disease and the total number of children infected by measles is feared to have risen to about 500. As for polio, Pakistan figured high on the global map last year when about 200 cases were reported against 28 in 2006. According to a World Health Organization report, more than 3.5 million children missing polio vaccination in 2012 and 1.75 million of them were from Sindh. The parents of the newest victim also did not administer this vaccine to their child either. One reason of vaccination target not being achieved is the threat by militants particularly in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Areas where the campaign was suspended and resumed time and again because health workers continued to be targeted and around 20 of them also lost their lives in firing incidents. All the children falling victim to the disease are reported to be suffering from malnutrition. Another WHO report portrays a sorry picture of the outbreak of measles which has claimed the lives of at least 100 children between November and December last year and the scourge has entered January 2013 as well. Sindh is the worst-hit province and the disease seems concentrating more in areas hit by floods in 2010 and 2011 where people are still haunted by the disaster. Even a routine immunization coverage is not available to them and even their parents. Not only Sindh, but the epidemic is fast spreading to other parts of the country including Punjab and Balochistan. Thousands of children have been put at risk due to inadequate vaccination programme. The outbreak has prompted serious questions about efficacy of Children Immunization Programme being run by the federal government with a huge funding by the world organizations. The provincial governments have earmarked about 1.5 per cent of their annual budget outlay and this is like peanuts in grappling colossal health related problems. Even in overall scenario civil obligations get much less than what is required. Sindh needs more help than other provinces in fighting measles in particular and it is upon the Pakistan People’s Party-led government there that it meets the challenge. Not only this, the government in this province has to give a due to the flood stricken people whose miseries do not seem to be coming to an end soon.