Vaccination refusals in Kyrgyzstan are on the rise, with up to 20,000 cases recorded annually. Gulbara Ishenapysova, Director of the Republican Center for Immunoprophylaxis, told at a briefing.
She stated that 45 percent of refusals are due to religious beliefs, 41 percent stem from concerns about vaccine safety, and 10 percent are attributed to other reasons.
The highest number of refusals and measles cases have been registered in Bishkek (over 9,000 refusals), Chui region (over 4,000), and Jalal-Abad region (over 2,000), while other regions report up to 1,000 refusals.
«We are working with religious organizations. Thanks to these efforts, refusals due to religious reasons have dropped from 70 percent,» Ishenapysova said.
She also reported that up to 400 new measles cases are registered weekly, a decrease compared to 2024, when 700–800 cases were reported per week.
The most affected regions remain Bishkek, Chui, and Osh regions, as well as Osh city.
«Eight fatal cases of measles have been registered for three months. These are mainly children who have not reached the vaccination period: six aged from five to eight months, one — with a long-term medical exemption, one from among those who refused vaccination. According to the calendar, we vaccinate at 1 and 2 years old. Considering that children under 12 months old can get infected, during the mopping up campaign we began vaccinating children from nine months old,» Gulbara Ishenapysova added.
