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Gavi Support Package: Ending Measles in Developing Countries

measles in developing countries
The measles vaccine has saved approximately 17.1 million lives since 2000, however, global targets to eradicate the disease are still off track according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Notably, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that while global measles vaccination coverage increased from 72 percent to 85 percent between 2000 and 2010, it has remained unchanged for the past 4 years.

Founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi recently approved a new support package that aims to end measles in developing countries.

The organization’s new support package will help install a strong immunization routine with high coverage. The new Gavin Vaccine will also take advantage of children’s visits to health care facilities to increase the coverage rates of the vaccine.

Gavi will also support data-driven campaigns on measles and rubella to reach children not protected by immunization. These campaigns will be synchronized with other immunization activities to better reach children in isolated communities.

In developing countries measles vaccination involves a series of strategies and large-scale campaigns which rely on the support of the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI).

In 2014, campaigns and immunization activities reached 221 million children. In the African Region, cases of measles dropped from over 171,000 in 2013 to under 74,000 in 2014.

This new support package also requires developing countries to have a five-year rolling measles and rubella plan, together with their long-term routine immunization plans, all of which will be updated annually.

“Countries cannot begin to hope to eliminate measles until they get epidemics under control,” said Dagfinn Høybråten, Chair of the Gavi Board, “The package of support we have agreed on today will save lives and give developing countries a golden opportunity to reform how they protect their children against measles.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: Gavi, WHO
Photo: Flickr

Myanmar Launches Vaccination Campaign

vaccination_campaign
In January 2015, the Myanmar government launched the first stage of the largest national campaign to eradicate and control Measles and Rubella by the year 2020.

The second stage took place in February 2015. Initially, these beginning stages were concentrated on Measles, but from May 2015 onward, the national campaign will offer the Measles and Rubella vaccine jointly.

The campaign is supported by the WHO, GAVI, American Red Cross, the U.N. Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF. The goal is to reach 94 percent of the population through vaccination teams of 12,000 health care professionals. The aim is to reach 17 million children between nine months and 15 years in 65,000 villages and 45,000 schools.

Myanmar has remained committed to vaccinating its population against fatal and debilitating diseases. In 2013, a polio immunization campaign was launched and 370,00 children under five years were vaccinated using the oral drops method. In early 2014, Myanmar, along with many other states in Southeast Asia, was declared polio-free.

Health care is reported to be expensive, of a poor quality and has difficulty in providing attentive care toward patients in Myanmar.

This vaccination campaign is also incredibly important because the population has been neglected in terms of health care due to the ongoing conflict and political issues. There are 587,000 internally displaced persons. There are 800,000 living in the western state, Rakhine state, who are stateless and 140,000 who have fled from their homes. Nevertheless, this campaign is attempting to reach those living in Rakhine state, which has been in an increasingly violent conflict-ridden state since 2012 as there are numerous clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. The vaccination campaign aims to reach populations in this region at a higher rate to match the national level.

While there are political hurdles to achieving an overall better health care system, the coordination of efforts between the state, local and international bodies in regard to vaccination is successful. This vaccination campaign is a major stride for Myanmar investing in the betterment of its people.

– Courteney Leinonen

Sources: Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Reliefweb, WHO, BBC, Salon
Photo: Measles & Rubella Initiative