Nationwide vaccination campaign stops measles spread

A vaccine shot is given to children. (Photo: VNA)

The nationwide measles-rubella immunisation campaign for all children aged 1-14 has helped Vietnam prevent the diseases from spreading, as few new cases of measles were reported in the first seven months of this year, said Director of the Preventive Medicine Department Tran Dac Phu.

He added that the Ministry of Health will review the largest-ever vaccination campaign on August 7 in Hanoi .

The campaign, which took place from September 2014 to May 2015, aimed to reduce the incidence rates of measles-rubella in Vietnam by offering free vaccinations to over 20 million children, or about 98.2 percent of the child population aged 1-14 including those from ethnic minority groups in far-flung areas.

A report by the Preventive Medicine Department unveiled that all districts nationwide achieved vaccine coverage of 95 percent. The country targets to bring all communes to the same rate by August this year, requiring focused efforts on the 23 communes in remote areas below the target rate.

Over 325,000 medical workers and 645,000 volunteers including teachers were involved in the campaign, the report said.-VNA