Big Catch-up, a two-week-long campaign for the immunization of children under five years of age who were left without a dose of immunization of vaccines against 12 deadly diseases, due to any reason, is being launched from Monday, December 2, across Azad Jammu Kashmir, including in this lake district of Mirpur, official sources said. "The integrated drive is being launched in the state by the AJK state health department with the support of the World Health Organization and the Federal Directorate of Immunization," sources told APP here Sunday when contacted. The move is being initiated to ensure the routine immunization of children under 05 years of age.

Mirpur District Health Officer Dr. Fida Hussain Raja said that the Big Catch-up campaign will commence from December 2 and continue till December 14, 2024, without any pause. In this campaign, at least 16,368 children under 5 years of age will be administered doses of vaccines against 12 deadly diseases by the mobile paramedical teams of the State Health Department, Dr. Fida said. The SHO expressed these views at the awareness seminar organized for stakeholders in the Deputy Commissioner's Office late Saturday. District Health Officer Dr. Fida Hussain Raja said that children under five years of age will be given carotene immunization in all EPI centers of the state health department.

Apart from this, 35 mobile teams of the Public Health Department will conduct outreach sessions in different areas of the district to provide routine immunization to the children, he further added. District Health Officer Mirpur briefed the participants on the importance and efficacy of immunization and urged the stakeholders to play their full role in this regard. On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Mirpur Yasir Riaz appealed to the public to cooperate with the health department para-medical teams getting their children vaccinated to protect them from 12 deadly diseases, ensuring the emergence of a true healthy society.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan