154 children died of measles in Pakistan during January: WHO

ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed serious concern over deaths from measles in Pakistan.

According to the WHO, 154 children were killed from measles during January with 93 deaths taking place in Sindh. 39 children died from the disease in Balochistan, 12 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 8 in Punjab. One death from measles was reported in Islamabad and FATA.

Last month, the health department had launched a massive vaccination drive against measles across Sindh, but analysts and experts claimed that majority of the children were not vaccinated during the emergency campaign. A WHO official said measles is a childhood killer disease, but preventable through immunisation.