Pakistan battles measles epidemic

In the intensive-care ward of Lahore's Mayo hospital, pale, spotty children cry in the intense heat of the Pakistani summer -- victims of a devastating measles outbreak.
Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province of which Lahore is the capital, has borne the brunt of the epidemic. It has 18,000 of the 25,000 cases reported around the country by provincial health authorities and more than 150 -- all children -- of the 495 deaths.
The province is the country's richest and most developed, but health experts say ineffective vaccination programmes and poor monitoring of the disease have led to the contagious disease running rampant.
Doctor Muhammad Younas, an official from the Directorate General of Health in Punjab, told AFP the province had seen 17,985 measles cases this year, with 158 deaths.
Last year there were 310 measles deaths in Pakistan, according to the World Health Organization, described in January by a health ministry official as "a record high".
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has declared a "war against measles" and the province hopes to have the outbreak under control within weeks, Ilyas said.