The measles menace

Punjab is observing 'Stop Measles Week' as part of an extensive awareness campaign against the disease that has claimed about 40 (unofficial figure is over 50) children's lives since its outbreak in the province last January. Before that, as quoted by the provincial caretaker health minister, Salima Hashmi, measles had claimed as many as 350 lives in Sindh. The Punjab government may want to pat itself on the back, as did the minister, for doing a better job than Sindh in taking timely measures to control the disease. Still, the number of 8699 (official figure) reported cases is far too many.
The province is now tackling the problem on an emergency basis, making more than five million vaccine injections available with the provincial health department and offering free treatment in all government hospitals for the affected children. And of course, an awareness campaign is in full swing.
These are all creditable measures. But they also show that the routine immunisation of children is not being carried out properly in any part of the country. Even after the first few cases appeared in Punjab, the health authorities did not take them seriously. It was only after the issue came under media spotlight that they spurred into action. Even so, the response exposed lack of preparedness. For instance, experts say that since the disease is highly contagious it is important to put the patients in isolation wards. To date, no such facility exists. Reports also point to mismanagement at the district level. It is unclear though whether that means wilful negligence or lack of the required vaccination. Given some recent scandals involving the use of spurious drugs for the treatment of life threatening ailments, the main culprit could well be the vaccine's poor quality. It is imperative to find out what went wrong and why, and to hold to account those responsible. The outbreak underscores the need for all provincial governments to devise an effective action plan to control the spread of this disease on a sustainable basis. An obvious step in that direction would be to reinforce the routine immunisation programme. The vaccination should be made available to all hospitals and rural healthcare centres. Equally important, the emphasis on raising awareness through such programmes as the 'Stop Measles Week' should be made a regular event so that the health authorities are constantly reminded of their responsibility and the families know the cost of not availing the opportunity of having their children immunised against afflictions like measles and polio.