The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

27 cases of ‘measles’ reported in Poonch
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, April 13
As many as 27 cases of communicable disease have been reported in Arai area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.

Residents, who are up in arms against the Health Department, complained that the local heath authorities didn’t immunise the children in the area that resulted in an outbreak of measles in the village. They alleged that 11-year-old girl Nazeem Akhter died of the same disease few days ago.

“The government spends crores of rupees under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for the immunisation of children. However, due to the negligence of the local health authorities hundreds of children are suffering from the disease”, Qayam Din Malik, sarpanch of the village, told mediapersons.

Official sources admitted that there had been an outbreak of a disease, but they refused to confirm whether the it was measles or some other disease.

“The symptoms of the disease (like rashes) are also associated with scabies, but it is difficult to say whether the disease is measles or some other disease. There have been 27 such cases out of which 12 are probably of the measles and rest may be that of scabies and rashes,” a source in the Health Department said.

Block medical officer, Mandi, Dr. Shamim Mir said they were looking into the allegations of the residents.

District immunisation officer Dr. Niaz Ahmed said: “The reports with us state that the children in the village have been fully immunised. If the disease is spreading the responsibility lies with the block medical officer of the area and his field functionaries.”