Third ‘Big Catch-Up’ launched in Sindh to cover children missed in routine immunisation


IV Report

KARACHI: Sindh, along with other provinces, is set to launch the third round of its additional routine immunisation campaign—Big Catch-Up Round 3—targeting children aged 2 to 5 years across all 30 districts of the province. The 24-day campaign will begin on July 14, amid directives from senior health officials to ensure measurable and tangible outcomes, according to a campaign official.

The campaign aims to vaccinate 1.5 million children against 12 preventable diseases, with the support of a large-scale operational workforce and updated micro-plans.

Chairing a high-level meeting in this regard, Sindh Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch underscored that the campaign was not a routine exercise but a critical initiative to reach children who may have missed their regular vaccinations.

“Our focus is on children aged 2 to 5 years who are feared to have missed routine immunisations. This round must produce results,” he said, urging district officials to update micro-plans, deploy newly hired vaccinators, complete training of field teams, activate reporting tools, and utilise zero-dose data collected through the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI).

Meanwhile, an official handout said the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Sindh has accelerated preparations for the campaign, which will cover 1,128 union councils across the province. The campaign will be supported by 3,650 vaccinators, an equal number of team assistants, 7,300 social mobilisers, 921 first-level field supervisors, 130 second-level tehsil supervisors, and 120 district data entry operators.

The meeting was attended by Dr Raj Kumar, Programme Director, EPI Sindh; Dr Sohail Raza Shaikh, Additional Director EPI; and Irshad Sodhar, Coordinator, Emergency Operations Centre for Polio, Sindh. The participants provided strategic and technical input and emphasised the use of Sindh Electronic Immunisation Registry (SEIR) data to identify zero-dose and defaulter children. They also stressed the importance of effective monitoring of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) and timely, accurate reporting through standardised tools.

Big Catch-Up Round 3 was formally launched at the federal level by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal in Islamabad on June 30. Supported by UNICEF, WHO-Pakistan, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the campaign is part of a broader national effort to strengthen vaccination systems and close immunisation gaps caused by COVID-19 and other disruptions.

Since its inception in October 2024, the Big Catch-Up initiative has delivered over 2.3 million Pentavalent doses, 2.38 million Measles-Rubella (MR) doses, and 2.5 million IPV doses through its first two rounds.

Photo: Official sources 

With an uninterrupted 23-year career in daily journalism (1991-2013), the author/editor of this blog currently serves as Editor of Social Track, a weekly newspaper focused on social sectors, based in Karachi. Holding a master's degree in Mass Communications from the University of Karachi (1990), his professional experience includes roles as senior reporter at Daily Dawn, Karachi (May 2001-August 2013) and Chief Reporter at The News International, Karachi (April 1991-May 2001). He has a strong background in development journalism, he has an extensive portfolio of news stories, analytical reports and features covering a wide range of sectors. He has had the privilege of covering numerous high-profile figures, including Pakistani presidents, prime ministers, army chiefs, foreign dignitaries, and VVIPs and attending conferences and workshops abroad. He began his journalism career in the early 1980s. Throughout his career, he has received several national awards from government and private organisations. He has contributed to various radio and TV/channel broadcasts and has also served as a trainer at workshops in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, focused on training journalists.

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