January 29, 13

NEWS / Pakistani city denies birth certificates for unvaccinated children

The city government of the Pakistani city of Lahore has told officials not to issue birth certificates for children whose parents did not submit a vaccination card. These children will also be denied access to schools. The move comes as part of an effort to encourage parents to get their children immunized under the government’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).

District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal instructed officials during a meeting on Monday to ensure that the vaccines are available at all static centers. He also suggested ways in which to inform the public about the program, such as displaying streamers and banners on major roadways and in other important places, The Express Tribune reports.

“I need hundred per cent results in the vaccination [drive] against measles, tuberculoses and Hepatitis B & C [sic],” Mengal stated.

Vaccinators are to be provided with special reflective jacket in order to ensure that the public recognizes them easily. They are to be stationed at hospitals, basic health units and rural health centers.

The program’s website states that its mass vaccinations are aimed at combating the spread of the following diseases: polio, neonatal tetanus, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis), hepatitis B&C, pneumonia, meningitis and tuberculosis. The website warns that up to 1,000 children under the age of five would die each day if the program is discontinued.

Lahore is the second-largest city of Pakistan and is the capital of the north-eastern province of Punjab. Poor hygiene, squalid living conditions and a lack of proper control measures has repeatedly caused outbreaks of deadly airborne and waterborne diseases in the past.


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