QUETTA: Diarrhea is one of the leading cause of child death in Pakistan. About 30-40% of the severe diarrhea that leads to hospitalization in children less than one-year-old is caused by a virus called Rota virus. Government of Balochistan, Health Department through its Expanded Program on Immunization has included the Rota Virus Vaccine in the immunization schedule of Routine Immunization. This was announced at the launching ceremony of Rota Virus Vaccine here on Wednesday.

The launching ceremony was chaired by Mir Abdul Majid Abro, Minister for Health and was attended by Secretary Health (Mr. Saleh Muhammad Nasar), DG Health (Dr Shakir Ali Baloch), secretaries from the line departments, representatives from UN agencies, INGOs, program managers, pediatricians, gynecologists and doctors from government/private hospitals.

The rotavirus vaccine will be the 10th vaccine to be introduced in the immunization program. Administered in two oral doses for children of 6 weeks as well as 10 weeks of age, it will help reduce the diarrhea related mortality in children below five. Balochistan bears a huge burden of cases of diarrhea annually below five years of age children; resulting in thousands of deaths, including 20-30 percent related to Rota-Virus.

Minister to Health department said” the introduction of Rota-virus vaccine is another milestone reflecting the commitment of the government towards the reduction of child related morbidities and mortalities in Balochistan. With the effective launch and administration of the rotavirus vaccine diarrhea related mortality in children under 05 years of age in the province is expected to reduce substantially. We are grateful to our development partners, GAVI, UNICEF and WHO for providing vaccines, as well as technical and material support for introducing the new vaccine. I also request to the communities for supporting the cause and cooperate with the EPI teams –

Secretary Health department said “to ensure an effective service delivery every individual in the department will have to perform their duties efficiently. He also said that introduction of the Rota virus vaccine is appreciable however this initiative will only be fruitful if the deaths due to diarrhea/Rota virus are controlled and in fact reduced to zero.”

Dr. Shakir Baloch – DG Health Balochistan said, “we have made success in reaching children as far as providing lifesaving health services are concerned and we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that child mortality is brought to zero.” He also said that immunization is one of the most powerful and cost effective health interventions and is the foremost agenda.  EPI is providing free of cost vaccination services against vaccine preventable diseases in every district of Balochistan. We all should play our part to make sure that every child gets vaccinated.

Dr. Dilshad said, “It is indeed a great achievement of the government of Balochistan as this would save lives of hundreds and thousands of children.”-PR