Ombudsperson revives investigation into children's deaths

MULTAN: The Punjab Ombudsperson has reopened scrutiny of the handling of a suspected measles outbreak in Vehari after taking notice of what was described as negligence by the district health authorities and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in a case linked to the deaths of four children last year.

The case concerns a suspected measles outbreak reported in July 2025 in Mouza Sandhal near Mailsi, where four children from the family of labourer Muhammad Imran died. Those named included four-year-old Farhan and six-month-old twin brothers Rehan and Muhammad Khan.

After the deaths surfaced in the media, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered an immediate inquiry. The Director General Health Services then formed a three-member fact-finding committee led by EPI Director Dr Samra Khurram and asked it to submit its findings within 48 hours. However, the inquiry report has not been made public a year later, and no action has reportedly been taken against any officials held responsible.

Complaint before ombudsperson

The matter was later taken to the Punjab Ombudsperson by local resident Irfan Mahmood. In his complaint, he alleged that although vaccines were available, they did not reach children in time because of weak supervision of field teams. He also alleged that vaccination coverage figures did not match the actual ground situation and said biometric verification and GPS-based monitoring systems had remained non-functional for a long period.

During proceedings, Punjab Ombudsperson Ayesha Hamid expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the Health Department. Dr Nauman, the EPI programme in-charge in Vehari district, was not aware of the recommendations of the fact-finding committee that had been constituted on the chief minister's instructions, deepening the Ombudsperson's concern.

Order seeks disciplinary proceedings

In her written order, the Ombudsperson said the report submitted by the District Health Authority, Vehari, did not adequately capture the seriousness of the incident and indicated that the authorities concerned had failed in their administrative duties. The order said delays and a lack of seriousness in handling such sensitive public health matters were unacceptable.

The Ombudsperson directed the Director General Health Services Punjab to complete proceedings in line with the fact-finding committee's recommendations, initiate disciplinary action against those found responsible, and submit a progress report to the Ombudsperson's Secretariat within 30 days.

Local residents, including Muhammad Usman, Saddam Hussain and Bashir Ahmed, welcomed the intervention and called for the inquiry findings to be made public. They also demanded accountability for those responsible and urged that the province's immunisation system be made more effective, transparent and accountable to help prevent similar incidents in the future.