Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign launched

• Many districts of Assam has launched the month-long Measles Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign.
• Vaccination was conducted in MV, ME, LP, Madrassa and high schools, both in Government as well as private, across the districts.
• ANM, ASHA workers, supervisers and other health functionaries fanned out to different parts of the district to vaccinate schoolchildren against MR.
• The campaign will cover altogether 1,486 schools as per the micro plan,” said Pritom Roy, Vaccine and Cold Chain Manager, eVin Project, UNDP.
• Along with vaccination, awareness campaigns were also conducted in different parts of the district. There was little resistance in the minority-concentration areas, thanks to the roping in of Muslim clerics by the district administration and health authorities.

Measles and Rubella

• Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children. It is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing of an infected person. Measles can make a child vulnerable to life threatening complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and brain infection. Globally, in 2015, measles killed an estimated 1, 34,200 children—mostly under-5 years. In India, it killed an estimated 49,200 children.
• Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which is a cause of public health concern. CRS is characterized by congenital anomalies in the foetus and newborns affecting the eyes (glaucoma, cataract), ears (hearing loss), brain (microcephaly, mental retardation) and heart defects, causing a huge socio-economic burden on the families in particular and society in general

By: Ziyaur Rahman