91% of Sri Lankan children vaccinated against measles
Ninety-one per cent of Sri Lankan children have received measles vaccines, a crucial step in combating a recent resurgence of the disease after eradication, Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana said.
Ninety-one per cent of Sri Lankan children have received measles vaccines, a crucial step in combating a recent resurgence of the disease after eradication, Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana said.
According to the official, 915 children who come from different parts of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar and Baghlan provinces, after contracting measles had to be taken to the civil hospital in Kunduz city over the past month. Seventeen of them succumbed to the disease, Xinhua news agency reported.
Most of the children who lost their lives were living in areas without the access of public health workers and local mobile vaccinators.
WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva that at least 87 children have died due to measles this year.
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“Protecting all children against these killer and debilitating diseases is an important step in our endeavour to achieve healthier population and health for all,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, congratulating the Maldives and Sri Lanka on their achievement.
In 2014, WHO South-East Asia announced the elimination of measles and control of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome by 2020 as a flagship programme.
