An immunization campaign has been launched in Kyrgyzstan in response to a measles outbreak. The representative of the World Health Organization to Kyrgyzstan, Liviu Vedrasco, announced at a press conference.
He recalled that measles is a highly contagious disease and before the introduction of the vaccine in 1963, major epidemics occurred every two — three years.
«Measles vaccination rates around the world have declined steadily due to the pandemic, and a large number of children — almost 40 million — missed vaccinations in 2021. There were an estimated 9 million measles cases and 128,000 deaths in 2021. Large-scale and devastating outbreaks have been reported in 22 countries. Measles still poses a threat in all regions. It can spread quickly among population and even across borders. But fortunately, this disease can be stopped through vaccination,» Liviu Vedrasco said.
He added that at the request of the Ministry of Health, an anti-measles vaccine was delivered to Kyrgyzstan. «We hope that this will make it possible to reduce the circulation of measles and eliminate this outbreak,» the WHO representative said.
