School admission linked to vaccination record in Sindh

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Education Azra Fazl Pechuhu on Friday said that she has asked the education department to bar admissions in schools of children who have not received EPI vaccination, ARY NEWS reported.

All schools should make it mandatory for children getting admission to submit vaccination record, the health minister said.

“The immunity among children below the age of two years remains low and these years require the vaccination more than any other period in life.”

Recently, an immunisation drive against measles and rubella was launched in Sindh with an aim to eradicate the life-threatening diseases.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah inaugurated the immunisation drive at NJV Government Higher Secondary School. Speaking on the occasion, he said the provincial government wants to make the province measles-and-rubella free.

He said the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) is working on boosting children’s immunity to different diseases.

The chief minister said the government plans to vaccinate as many as 19 million children aged between 9 and 15 years and administer anti-polio drops to 8.9 million kids aged five years and below.

A total of 71,856 children will be inoculated in private as well as government schools in the province, he said, urging parents to get their children vaccinated against the life threatening diseases.

CM Murad said that no polio case was reported so far this year due to the Sindh government’s efforts to eradicate the crippling disease from the province.