Vaccinators get motorbikes

Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) Tuesday provided motorbikes to the vaccinators of health department to boost the routine vaccination in the federal capital under the Expanded Immunization Programme.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Pakistan annually targets around 5.8 million children aged below 1 year to protect against 8 vaccine-preventable diseases and 5.9 million pregnant women to protect them and their newborns from tetanus through routine immunization services. The overall objective of EPI was to reduce mortality and morbidity resulting from the 8 EPI target diseases.
Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz distributed around 20 motorbikes among the vaccinators in collaboration with WHO and Gavi (The Vaccine Alliance) in a ceremony held here.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Mayor lauded the efforts of WHO for providing assistance to MCI in immunization to the federal capital children.
Director General Health, Dr. Hassan Urooj said the department was conducting vaccinations in Islamabad for the last 25 years and after the provision of motorcycles it would further enhance the capacity of front liners to achieve their targets. WHO Representative Dr. Osama acknowledged the efforts of MCI health staff to vaccinate around 97 per cent children in the federal capital, last year, and said the organization was taking multiple steps to vaccinate every child in the city.—APP