National measles-rubella vaccination campaign launched
VGP - A national campaign on measles-rubella vaccination was launched in Ha Noi on October 11. The move was part of an expanded immunisation program that has been carried out in Viet Nam for nearly three decades.
Speaking at the event, Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan stressed that the Party and State have paid due attention to taking care of children over the past time through a series of activities.
The most worthy of note is the free expanded immuisation programme, which aims to prevent infectious diseases threatening children’s health and life, she said.
Ms. Doan called on socio-political organisations and the public, especially families of children aged from 1-14, to warmly respond to the campaign.
The Vice State President asked the Health Ministry to ensure the quality and safety of the campaign while partnering with the Ministry of Education and Training to popularise it at schools.
Chief Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Viet Nam Youssouf Abdel-Jelil hailed the Vietnamese Government’s efforts and commitments to investing in vaccination in general and the measles-rubella vaccination campaign in particular.
Thanks to the support of international organisations, the program has proven its effectiveness in reducing the rates of disease infections and mortalities among children.
Viet Nam has become one of the countries that are able to produce 10 out of 12 vaccines used in the program.
The campaign has been implemented from September 2014 to February 2015, targeting about 23 million children between the ages of 1-14 throughout the nation.
Earlier, the drive was piloted in the northern province of Phu Tho, the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the central province of Thua Thien – Hue and the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.
As many as 757,000 children in 23 cities and provinces across the country have so far received measles-rubella shots./.
By Khanh Phuong
