Two children died on Wednesday due to measles raising the death toll in Punjab to 13. Despite claims of the Punjab government that the spread of the disease has been contained, the death toll has continued to mount. The two children who died of measles were identified as Zubair and 5-month-old Eman. The death toll has risen to the 13 across the province. Similarly, at least 143 children lost lives in Sindh in the previous month. The doctors blamed the Punjab government’s inefficiency for the deaths and demanded resignations at all levels. The doctors also termed the performance of Punjab government in the measles epidemic in Punjab as a total “failure”. The young doctors further said that when more than 5 cases from one union council were registered, the disease was said to be an epidemic, while the Punjab government had not declared it so. They further said that in 2006, mass vaccination of children over 6 months of age was done for next 3 years very few cases came up but that was not the reason to stop the vaccination campaign. Chief Minister’s Advisor on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique was not available for comments.
