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The Pakistan Medical Association has issued an urgent national red alert after clinical and epidemiological data revealed that the country holds a catastrophically high volume of "zero-dose" children in the World Health Organisation's Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to a report by Dawn.
Zero-dose children refer to those who have not received the first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-containing vaccine (DTP1). Dawn reported that with 651,000 infants completely bypassed by routine immunisation systems, the PMA said that Pakistan is sitting on an epidemiological powder keg, facing an imminent, large-scale resurgence of preventable childhood mortality. According to Dawn, the association formally declared the milestone a National Public Health Emergency, warning that the immunity gap has breached the threshold required to maintain herd immunity, exposing the entire region to uncontrolled outbreaks. "From a clinical and public health perspective, the presence of over half a million zero-dose children represents a systemic collapse of primary preventive healthcare," PMA Secretary-General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said. "Behind these devastating figures lies a deeper, systemic rot that has hollowed out the nation's healthcare framework." Citing the latest World Health Organisation regional epidemiological data, Dawn mentioned that 90pc of all zero-dose children in the region are concentrated in five countries: Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. It underlined how Pakistan's inclusion in this bracket is primarily driven by administrative negligence and governance failure. "For a non-conflict nation to harbor 14pc of the entire region's zero-dose children is an unacceptable failure of governance," Shoro said. As per Dawn, the PMA pointed to critical failures and structural corruption contributing to the crisis which includes factors such as nepotism in administrative appointments, weakened Expanded Programme on Immunisation frameworks, chronic failure to establish secure networks to reach remote territories, and a failure to proactively counter vaccine hesitancy. "Accumulating 651,000 zero-dose children is a direct consequence of decades of corrupt practices, administrative neglect, and a complete lack of political will from successive governments who do not prioritise the health of this nation," the PMA stated. In order to tackle the medical crisis, the association demanded an audit of all funds allocated to provincial EPI and health departments, ensuring financial transparency, eliminating kickbacks in procurement and holding negligent administrators accountable. It also urged the provincial and federal leadership to declare routine immunisation a non-negotiable national security priority and called for utilising localised, GIS-mapped demographic data to track down and inoculate the missing children, prioritising high-risk districts. The PMA also called for modernising vaccine supply chains to prevent thermal degradation, rectifying delayed payments, and providing competitive compensation, rigorous clinical training, and robust security protocols for frontline health workers delivering care. (ANI)
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