ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has become the first country in the region to introduce a Typhoid Vaccine in accordance with the principles of the World Health Organisation.
The government of Pakistan launched the vaccine introduction with a campaign in Sindh Province, which was the center of an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid outbreak. It is the first typhoid vaccine that can be given to children as young as 6 months of age and confers longer-term protection against typhoid.
It reported 63 percent of typhoid cases and 70 percent of typhoid deaths in Pakistan were among children younger than 15 years of age. With funding assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the vaccine introduction started with a vaccination drive targeting more than nine million children 9 months to 15 years old in urban areas of Sindh Province.
The vaccine was also introduced in neighboring Punjab Province and Islamabad and then nationally in July 2021. The principal of the Post Graduate Medical Institute, Dr Sardar Muhammad Al-freed Zafar said that 100 trained paramedics including nursing students of the Nursing College and the Lahore General Hospital are going to partake in the success of the Typhoid Immunisation Campaign.
During the campaign, children aged 9 months to 15 years will be vaccinated against typhoid which will be included in the pediatric immunization course from next year as well.
it was also necessary to raise public awareness about general health in order to rid Pakistan of numerous diseases, the health official stressed. In this way people could take full benefit of the vaccination drive against various diseases, he added. According to the plan prepared by the Punjab Health Department, the campaign will continue from 1st to 15th February.
The plan has been devised to ensure that no child accompanying the parents is deprived of the Typhoid Vaccine. MS Lahore General Hospital Dr Abdul Razzaq, Principal Nursing College Azhara Sultana, Dr Jaffar Shah, Dr Abdul Aziz, and In-charge EPI Shanila Komal and others were also present.
Prof Zafar said that the government spends millions every year on child and women protection programs however, the success of all these campaigns depends on the full assistance of parents and people.
“Whether it is an anti-polio campaign or a typhoid injection, it is the responsibility of all parents to give their children the basic right to be vaccinated”, he added.
The health expert lamented that despite all the efforts of the government in Pakistan, many sections do not encourage immunization of children which is against moral, religious and national obligations.
