DUSHANBE/KHUJAND, September 28, 2009, Asia-Plus — A mass national measles and rubella immunization campaign was launched in Tajikistan today
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Shamsiddin Jobirov, the director of the Republican Immunoprophylactic Center within the Ministry of Health (Moh), said that more than 3 million U.S. dollars had been provided for carrying out the measles and rubella immunization campaign that would run through October 12. According to him, the vaccination campaign will be carried out amongst more than 2.5 million children between 12 months and 14 years old.
“Such a large-scale nationwide rubella vaccination campaign is being held in Tajikistan for the first time because before that, the country had not had enough funds for carrying such events,” said Jobirov, “The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Red Cross, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have supported the initiative providing. Their representatives are currently in Tajikistan to monitor and assess the campaign.”
According to him, preparations for the immunization campaign began in March already and more than 5,000 medical workers have been training for carrying out the campaign. More than 2,000 immunization points have been set up across the country,” Jobirov said.
In the meantime, 549 medical teams have been set for carrying out the vaccination campaign amongst more than 650,000 children between 12 months and 14 years old living in the northern Sughd province.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Mumin Bobojonov, the director of the Sughd Immunoprophylactic Center, said that all cities and districts in the provinces had been provided with enough Indian vaccine and disposable syringes. According to him, 176 cases of rubella have been officially registered among local children this year. In the meantime, no case of measles has been reported this year.
Measles is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red yes and a generalized, maculopapular, erythematous rash. Measles is spread through respiration and is highly contagious—90% of people without immunity sharing a house with an infected person will catch it.
According to WHO, measles is a leading cause of vaccine-preventable childhood mortality. Worldwide, the fatality rate has been significantly reduced by partners in the Measles Initiative: the American red Cross, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). Globally, measles deaths are down 60 percent, from an estimated 873,000 deaths in 1999 to 345,000 in 2005.
Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a disease caused by the rubella virus. The name “rubella” is derived from the Latin, meaning little red. Rubella is also known as German measles because the disease was first described by German physicians in the mid-eighteenth century. This disease is often mild and attacks often pass unnoticed. The disease can last one to three days. Children recover more quickly than adults.
