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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : June 23, 2014 4:08 PM IST
Lack of staff and proper co-ordination between the health department and the administration in Pakistan's North Waziristan region is hampering the vaccination drive for displaced children, media reported Monday. According to officials, due to a large number of displaced people entering the region, there has been a shortage of staff, Dawn online reported. All the displaced children entering North Waziristan should be vaccinated, the officials said.
'We need to repeatedly vaccinate the children who have not been vaccinated since June 2012. Their immunisation is of utmost importance because there is a severe outbreak of polio in North Waziristan,' a vaccinator said. Officials in Bannu said that the health department should co-ordinate with the Pakistan Army to ensure that all the displaced people were vaccinated. North Waziristan has recorded 50 polio cases this year. Read more about optional vaccinations recommended for your child.
An estimated 160,000 children have not been vaccinated since the Taliban banned immunisation in November 2012. The health department in Bannu would earlier give oral polio vaccines to children under 10 years, but Saturday it launched a general vaccination drive for people of any age on the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). (Read: 8 ways to make your baby's vaccination appointment easy (Gallery))
Here are 10 vaccines that are recommended for your child.
1. BCG Vaccine
BCG vaccine or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin is a vaccine that most of us must have been administered during our childhood. It is administered using an intradermal injection in order to prevent the deadly tuberculosis. Read more about tuberculosis and how it can be deadly.
Ideally, it should be given within 12 months of the child being born.
2. OPV or Polio Vaccine
India has been successful in its battle against polio with WHO calling it a polio-free country. In India, it is given free of cost to all children under the Pulse Polio programme.
This vaccine is administered orally several times over a period of 5 years.
3. DPT Vaccine
DPT Vaccine is given to prevent not just one, but three diseases namely diphtheria, petrussis and tetanus. All three diseases have the potential to be fatal which makes this vaccine mandatory for every child.
Children should be given five doses of this vaccine. The first dose when the child is 2 months old. The second dose when the child is 4 months of age. The third dose when the child is 6 months of age. The fourth dose when the child is between 15 to 18 months of age. The fifth dose when the child is between 4 to 6 years of age.
4. Measles Vaccine
The measles vaccine is administered subcutaneously, i.e. just below the skin. It is mandatory to vaccinate you child with this vaccine as measles is a contagious viral infection that can progress to cause diarrhoea, pneumonia and in some cases even prove fatal.
It is given when the child is 9 months old. Read more about 10 vaccines recommended for your child.
With inputs from IANS
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