KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday launched "the world's largest vaccination drive" against measles and rubella viruses, aimed at vaccinating over 90 million children in the country over the next two weeks, officials said. 

Measles is a highly infectious disease which spreads from one person to another and has a high mortality rate. In Pakistan, 8031 cases, including 2489 in the country’s seaside metropolis of Karachi, were reported from January till October 10, 2021, according to the Karachi commissioner's office. Thirty-eight people have died of the disease in the country so far this year.   

Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is a mild disease, but health practitioners say it can have serious consequences for pregnant women. If contracted in the first trimester of pregnancy, it may lead to Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) in infants and cause eye, ear or heart defects.  

Globally, more than 100,000 children are born with CRS each year, the Karachi commissioner's office said in a statement. Pakistan reported 884 suspected and 117 confirmed cases of CRS in 2021. 

“Around 91 million children, aged 9 months to 15 years, will be vaccinated across Pakistan, which is the world’s largest vaccination drive against these viral diseases,” Professor Dr Jamal Raza, executive director of the Sindh Institute of Child Health, told Arab News, adding that previously Bangladesh vaccinated a record 50 million children in 2014. 

“The mortality rate of measles is one in 1000 among the developing and underdeveloped nations, and it also leads to serious medical complications, including pneumonia. Vaccination is vital for preventing these diseases.” 

Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Pakistan's Sindh province, on Monday inaugurated the provincial Measles Rubella Catch-Up Campaign in Karachi. Addressing the launch, Shah said 19 million children, aged 9 months to 15 years, across the province would be vaccinated against measles and rubella, while another 8.2 million under 5 years would be administered anti-polio drops during the same period. 

The Sindh health department, through its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), had played a vital role in improving immunization services to prevent significant outbreaks, he said.  

“The health department with the support of the education department would cover more than 6.5 million children in approximately 71,856 both public and private schools,” he said, adding the remaining eligible children would be covered through fixed, outreach and special mobile teams.   

In Karachi, a city that is home 15 million people, 3894 outreach teams have been formed to administer vaccines to 4.9 million children, according to Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon. The drive would be carried out through 431 fixed site teams and 27 mobile teams.