PESHAWAR: Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) of health department will launch two-week campaign on November 17 to safeguard children against measles and rubella in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The drive will continue till November 29 to immunise 600,000 children from six months to five years. The drive will be conducted with the support of education and local government departments and Rescue 1122.
The director of EPI, Dr Asghar Khan, told Dawn that on November 10, they gave presentation to Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah where he was informed about the preparation for the drive. “The chief secretary has directed all the departments to throw their weight behind EPI to make the effort a success and ensure safety of children,” he said.
He said that measles, one of the 12 vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, killed 25 children in the province and such mortalities were avoidable provided the parents ensured administration of vaccines to their children. He said that the province recorded 4,705 lab-confirmed measles cases of the totally suspected 12,800 and most of the children were not fully immunised.
Two-week campaign will be launched on Nov 17
Dr Asghar said that prior to launch of EPI programme, the province continued to report hundreds of deaths and thousands of cases every year. After starting the vaccination programme, there has been obvious improvement as far as measles is concerned.
“Our workers will cover children in 37 districts and will also administer oral polio vaccine to children in 27 districts along with MR in 10 districts. Only MR vaccination will be conducted because there are no threats of poliomyelitis in these areas,” he said.
The EPI director said that chief secretary directed all public and private schools to cooperate with vaccination teams.
The education department has been instructed to spread awareness about the vaccination in morning assembly, describing that it is a government’s programme to protect children from diseases.
Likewise, Rescue 1122 staff will stand alert to rush children to the nearest hospital for management in case of any side effects from the vaccine.
As per plan, the target population will receive injectable jabs through qualified technicians in hujra, through mobile teams and at more than 1600 fixed EPI centres in hospitals. More than 4500 teams, comprising technicians and social mobilisers will be deployed during the drive, being supported by Gavi, the vaccine alliance which is providing 95 percent financial support to the province.
“Currently, the province has 68 percent fully immunised children. Viruses can affect unimmunised children in densely populated areas, therefore, immunisation is the only way to reduce the burden of diseases,” said Dr Asghar.
He said that lady health workers and lady health visitors were also part of the programme as they had already been imparted training the help of Unicef.
In Kohat, district health authorities have mobilised 198 teams to immunise 180,26 children against measles and rubella (MR) and administer anti-polio vaccine to 211,312 children.
The district health officer, Dr Syed Gul, advised parents at a briefing to keep their EPI cards, give children a light meal before vaccination and stay briefly at the vaccination centre afterward to allow immediate medical assistance in case of any reaction.
Giving a briefing on vaccination, he said that mobile vaccination units would visit homes, schools, mosques and community centres in both urban and rural areas to ensure that no child was left unvaccinated.
The special assistant to chief minister on information, Shafiullah Jan, formally inaugurated the 12-day immunisation campaign in Kohat.
In Mohmand, an immunisation campaign against measles and rubella is set to begin on November 17, targeting 112,459 children.
Addressing an awareness session held at Mohmand Press Club on Monday, district coordinator health Dr Adeel Khan, EPI coordinator Younas Khan and Dr Zainul Abideen stressed the need for community participation in the drive.
They said that 136 vaccination teams were formed for the campaign including 60 fixed centres and 70 mobile and hujra-based teams to ensure door-to-door coverage in all areas.
Dr Adeel said that vaccines were safe and vital to protect children. “It is a matter of life and death. We need full support of people to prevent an outbreak,” he said.
Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2025.
