KARACHI, Jan 1: Measles cases surged in Pakistan in 2012, and hundreds of children died from the disease, an international health body said on Tuesday.

The flood affected districts, where total deaths of children attributed to the suspected measles are 210 since January 2012.The World Health Organisation on Tuesday confirmed 210 deaths of children

More than 300 children died of measles last year as a result of three consecutive years of flooding, officials said on Tuesday.

At least 30 children have died due to measles outbreak only in Larkana but Secretary Health Aftab Ahmed Khatri could not confirm the details about the death toll in Sindh.

Months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called malnourishment among children a national shame, the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD) has now written to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories asking them to get “serious about fighting malnourishment especially among the children and women”.

WCD secretary Prem Narain said: “We have issued written instructions on Tuesday to all senior officials concerned and various Ministries to ensure that they contribute positively in the fight against this great challenge that the country faces today.

The UNICEF in association with the Amala Institute of Medical Science will implement a model community action programme at Adattu panchayat in the district to improve child health. Millions of children die from preventable causes before reaching their fifth birthday, many of them during the first year of life, according to health statistics. It is estimated that seven out of 10 childhood deaths are from just five causes - pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles, malaria and malnutrition. This is when the capacity to prevent and treat these diseases exists.

A measles outbreak has killed eight children and afflicting over a dozen in different areas of Bajaur Agency over the last few days.

NEW DELHI: India will for the first time introduce a vaccine against Rubella - a viral disease that infects pregnant women and leads to babies being born with cardiac, cerebral, ophthalmic and audi

RAYAGADA: Eight children have died in the last 10 days and as many as 30 are suffering from measles in the remote and inaccessible Silapas and Rayalghat villages under Jogipaitunga panchayat of Kas