New data released today by the United Nations show that under-five mortality rates have dropped by 49% between 1990 and 2013. The average annual reduction has accelerated – in some countries it has even tripled – but overall progress is still short of meeting the global target of a two-thirds decrease in under-five mortality by [...]
Prevention is better than Cure” is the crux of the tale shared by a Family who have seen the horrifying effects of the disease By Azhar Nisar Sheikh, Health Education Officer, Federal EPI Cell “A small insect bite or an ordinary rash on my children gives me a nightmare now” says Muhammad Younis a [...]
Providing basic medical services, including polio vaccinations, to children in Pakistan’s poorest and most conflict-ridden areas is the key to ending polio worldwide, argues Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta in a comment piece in this week’s Nature. Dr Bhutta, who is the Founding Director of the Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University and [...]
Pneumonia, a killer disease is the biggest cause of child mortality around the globe, killing a child every 30 seconds. It contributes 18% of the total global child deaths and Pakistan is the first South Asian country to include Pneumococcal vaccine in its national immunisation programme, Dr Iqbal Memon, President Pakistan Paediatric Association and Dr. [...]
In 2012, approximately 6.6 million children worldwide – 18 000 children per day – died before reaching their fifth birthday, according to a new report released today by UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division. This is roughly half the number of under-fives who died [...]
Pakistan is among 115 countries which recognise the right to public healthcare yet it discriminates against women, especially the rural population, and fares poorly with South Asian neighbours, reveals an assessment report. The report, “Integration of Health-Related Human Rights in the Public Health Response of Pakistan” was launched during a consultation workshop organised by the [...]
Speakers at a Seminar to celebrate World Malaria Day said that increased malaria prevention and control measures were essential to reduce the disease burden in the country. Malaria was a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that were transmitted to people through bites of infected mosquitoes. They said parasites spread to people through the bites of [...]
A four-day Training Workshop was organized by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Government of Pakistan, in collaboration with World Health Organization was held at a local hotel in Islamabad. The objectives of the workshop were to: review the performance of EPI in 2012 at national, provincial and area level, coverage of immunization, implementation of [...]
Nearly 100,000 children under the age of five die every year due to preventable diseases like pneumonia, tetanus and measles in Pakistan. This makes up to a whopping 20 percent of the total 435,000 deaths of children in Pakistan. These diseases can easily be ward off with the timely vaccination of children. These views were [...]
Caretaker Prime Minister, Justice (Retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has directed for an urgent inter-Provincial Meeting to combat steady increase in the number of measles cases in the country. Expressing his deep concern over the rising incidence of Measles in the country, during a Meeting at Sindh Governor House, he directed the Caretaker Federal Health [...]
In advance of World Immunization Week, global experts are highlighting strategies to further advance progress on the Global Vaccine Action Plan that was endorsed by the World Health Assembly, 2012. Better supply and logistics systems are essential to reach the estimated 22 million children in developing countries who are still not protected from dangerous diseases [...]
Global eradication program will move simultaneously on multiple fronts expanding focus to improve childhood immunization and protect gains made to date At the Global Vaccine Summit, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) presented a comprehensive six-year plan, the first plan to eradicate all types of polio disease – both wild poliovirus and vaccine-derived cases – [...]
Trust for Vaccines & Immunization (TVI) in collaboration with Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Sindh and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) SeoulKorea organized a Typhoid Consultation Meeting at a local hotel in Karachi. The objective of the Meeting was to bring together government stakeholders, policy decision makers, donor agencies and non-governmental institutions to discuss typhoid control [...]
Prominent consultant paediatricians have blamed internal politics in the provincial immunisation programme, mismanagement at district level, devolution of health department, neglect of routine immunisation and lack of awareness among parents regarding routine immunisation as basic causes behind the outbreak of measles in Sindh and the resulting deaths. They called for immediate strengthening of routine immunisation [...]
The number of measles deaths globally decreased by 71% between 2000 and 2011, from 542 000 to 158 000. Over the same period, new cases dropped 58% from 853 500 in 2000 to 355 000 in 2011, according to new data released Thursday by WHO, a leading member of the Measles and Rubella Initiative. Although [...]
