KARACHI: The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) launched on Monday a province-wide third round of the `Big Catch-up` campaign, targeting 1.5 million children who have missed routine vaccinations, especially those aged two to five years.

Earlier scheduled for July 14, the campaign was postponed due to monsoon forecasts and reports of heavy rains in several districts. It will continue for thenext 24 days.

According to EPI officials, the human resource plan for the drive is extensive and includes the deployment of 3,650 vaccinators, 3,650 team assistants, 7,300 social mobilisers (two per team), 921 first-level field supervisors, 130 secondlevel tehsil supervisors and 120 district data entry operators.

These teams will operate across 1,128 union councils in Sindh.

Sources said the drive`s strategic and technical matters were recently discussed at a meeting attended by all officials, including Sindh Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch, Additional EPI Director Dr Sohail Raza Shaikh, Programme Director EPI Sindh Dr Raj Kumar, Coordinator Emergency Operations Irshad Sodhar and represent-atives of partner organisations.

Highlighting the campaign`s significance, officials shared that it aimed to reverse the decline in childhood immunisation, mainly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, and disrupted imports and exports of syringes and vials.

The persisting challenge of vaccine hesitancy, they said, had also contributed to the large and growing gap in immunisation.

`This campaign is a crucial step towards achieving universal immunisation coverage in Sindh, ensuring that no child is left behind due to missed vaccinations. It will help reduce child mortality and morbidity and strengthen the province`s public health system,` an EPI official said.

It may be recalled that the provincehas been seeing a large number of deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases, especially measles and diphtheria, over the past few years, while the polio challenge has also intensified in the country, including Sindh. The situation, experts believe, underscores the need to strengthen routine immunisation.

In 2024, the Sindh health department confirmed the deaths of 132 children from measles, with more than 13,000 suspected and 6,670 confirmed cases. The year saw 149 outbreaks across the province, with 18 outbreaks reported in Karachi alone.

The same year, 40 children died of diphtheria, a highly contagious bacterial infection. Outbreaks were reported in three Karachi districts, as well as in Larkana and Dadu.