UN agencies hail results of measles vaccination campaign in Madagascar

At least 7.3 million children in Madagascar have been vaccinated against measles in the past month, exceeding the expectations of a campaign by Untied Nations humanitarian agencies to transform the African country’s immunization rates.

Officials from Madagascar’s Health Ministry announced this week that 97.7 per cent of the 7.7 million children targeted by the campaign were reached – compared to the expected rate of 95 per cent – by the thousands of volunteer teams that fanned out across the country to give the vaccines.

The figure could increase further as two of the country’s 111 districts have not yet reported their final totals for the 25-day scheme that began on 13 September.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) country representative Andre Ndikuyeze said the project had brought Madagascar much closer towards eradicating an infectious disease that kills or debilitates thousands of its children every year.

“The next step is now to strengthen routine surveillance to ensure that no more children die from measles,” he said.

About six out of every 10 children in Madagascar were not immunized before the campaign began, and many have also been unprotected against tetanus, diphtheria and pertusis.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which supplied the vaccines, hailed the results and said it was a tribute to the efforts of the thousands of vaccinators and community mobilizers who carried out the work.