The World Health Organization and the Sindh government have inaugurated a model vaccination centre at the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi to serve an estimated 2.5 million people in District South. Sindh’s Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and WHO Representative Dr Luo Dapeng, joined by Senator Rubina Khalid, led the opening of the new facility supported by WHO with funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.<\/p>\n
The vaccination centre will offer free routine immunization that protects children against 13 vaccine-preventable diseases, and will provide tetanus-diphtheria vaccination for pregnant women. The facility is designed to improve the experience for families with dedicated child vaccination spaces, a comfortable waiting area for caregivers, reliable water and sanitation, appropriate furniture and modern cold-chain equipment to keep vaccines safe and effective. Information materials at the site will guide parents on vaccine schedules and requirements.<\/p>\n
As the largest public-sector children\u2019s hospital in Karachi, NICH is expected to serve hundreds of children each day at the new vaccination centre. WHO annually supports Sindh\u2019s Expanded Programme on Immunization to reach about 1.5 million children across the province, including roughly 0.7 million children in Karachi. The centre\u2019s central location also strengthens referrals and walk-in access from across the city.<\/p>\n
Routine immunization in Sindh reached approximately 80 percent coverage by 2025, with first-dose pentavalent coverage above 93 percent and BCG coverage above 90 percent. At the national level, Pakistan\u2019s EPI, in partnership with WHO, vaccinates around 7 million children and 5.5 million women of childbearing age each year. The new centre forms part of EPI Sindh\u2019s plan to increase fixed immunization sites in Karachi and reduce the number of children who miss routine vaccination.<\/p>\n
The facility will also support polio eradication efforts by offering routine immunization alongside supplementary polio vaccination campaigns, complementing the polio doses included in the national schedule. WHO will continue to work with Sindh on vaccine service delivery, vaccinator training and data collection through the digital child immunization registry to help reach children who are missed by routine services.<\/p>\n
Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said the provincial government is emphasising improvements to EPI centres so parents have a positive experience bringing children for vaccination. Dr Luo Dapeng added that over the last 50 years Pakistan\u2019s EPI, in collaboration with WHO and partners, has protected millions of children and mothers and that WHO will continue to stand with Sindh to protect lives, ensuring no child and no mother is left behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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