Pakistan to vaccinate over 90 M children against measles and rubella

The government has launched a nationwide campaign to vaccinate more than 90 million children against the deadly measles and rubella viruses across Pakistan, in what is bound to become one of the biggest campaigns in the world, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 386,000 health professionals, including 76,000 vaccinators and more than 143,000 social mobilisers, are mobilised for the two-week campaign, which is supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF, WHO and partners. The initiative targets children aged between nine months and 15 years; those aged up to five will also receive the oral polio vaccine. The campaign is timely, as more than 17,000 suspected measles and rubella cases were reported in Pakistan in 2021, which is double the reported cases in all of 2020. This marks a sharp increase in reported cases and has resulted in an increase in measles outbreaks; 70 districts in the country reported outbreaks and 51 children have died from complications from the outbreaks so far. An increase in Congenital rubella syndrome cases was also recorded in 2020 and 2021 – 70 per cent of children affected suffer from congenital heart disease, and 30 per cent from congenital cataract.