According to the UN Daily News, nearly 100 million children across China will this month be vaccinated against measles in one of the world’s largest such public health exercise in an effort to bring the vast country closer to eliminating the contagious disease by 2012.
The vaccination campaign will kick off on 11 September and last until 20 September, WHO and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a joint statement.
In 2009, more than 52,000 people in China were reported to have contracted measles, accounting for about 86 per cent of the measles cases in WHO’s Western Pacific region.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both children and young adults. While most individuals recover from measles infection, some may suffer serious complications such as blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea, pneumonia and ear infections.
Measles is a leading cause of avoidable death and disability among children in developing countries. Globally, an estimated 164,000 people died from measles in 2008 – mostly children under the age of five.
Experience from other countries shows that well-conducted campaigns can ensure that every child, especially those not reached through the routine immunization programme, receives a measles vaccine.
The measles vaccine is a safe and highly effective, but some children may get fever or mild reactions in the days following vaccination. This means that the vaccine is working to protect the child. A child who has previously received measles vaccination can still be given an additional dose of measles vaccine.
Filed under: Asia, Commentary on news & events, Public health | Tagged: access to medicines, China, UNICEF, United Nations, vaccine, World Health Organization | 2 Comments »

The fight against TB: Bayer donates drugs to WHO program
According to a report from PharmaTimes, Bayer will donate 620,000 tablets of its antibiotic moxifloxacin in order to help tackle multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
The drugs will be provided to the World Health Organization for use in its Stop Tuberculosis Partnership, with the WHO expected to provide the antibiotics to China’s national tuberculosis programme.
Filed under: Asia, Commentary on news & events, Public health, World Health Organization | Tagged: access to medicines, China, tuberculosis, World Health Organization | Leave a Comment »