2 Ghor children dead of fast-spreading measles

FEROZ KOH (Pajhwok): Health province on Sunday said two children lost their lives due to measles.

Officials said treatment of kids had been intensified and more than 300 children got successful treatment.

Dr. Juma Gul Yaqubi, director Ghor Civil Hospital, told Pajhwok Afghan News patients were cured in the last two months. Currently, more than 10 more patients were admitted to the hospital, he informed.

Yaqubi said majority of the patients were from the provincial capital, Charsada and Dawlatyar districts.

Measles is an infectious viral disease causing fever and a red rash, typically occurring in childhood. Lack of vaccination and proper medical care could prove deadly, he informed.

Residents of far-flung areas expressed concerns over spreading of the disease, saying that health clinics were far and travelling to hospitals cost them a lot.

Gul Ahmad, a resident of Bardiz locality in Charsada district, said more than 100 families lived in the village. Apart from children, he said, elders were also infected to the disease.

He said the lone clinic in the locality was 40 kilometres away without proper facilities. “More than 20 persons are admitted to the provincial hospital from my village. My wife and two kids have also been admitted.”

He complained that only one way travel to the provincial hospital cost 800 afghanis per person which was not affordable.

Gul Ahmad said if the government paid no heed to their plight then children would be vulnerable to the life threatening disease.

Nesar Ahmad, a resident of Raghskan locality, said due to insecurity the vaccination campaign did not reach to all children in the province. “In every house there is a child who suffers from the disease.”

Health officials assured to launch a major vaccination campaign across the province in next few days.

hg/rm

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