3.5 million Angolan children targeted for measles vaccination in UN-backed campaign

More than 3.5 million Angolan children are to be vaccinated against measles in a United Nations-backed integrated health campaign beginning today which will also provide many with polio immunization, vitamin A, de-worming medication and long-lasting insecticide treated nets against malaria.

The campaign, launched by the Government and its partners in the Measles Initiative, the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the United States President’s Malaria Initiative, is a follow-up to a previous anti-measles offensive in 2003, which reached 96 percent of the targeted group in the southern African country.

“The number of reported measles cases declined dramatically after the successful 2003 campaign, but routine coverage still requires strengthening in many provinces,” said Angela Kearney, a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Angola.

The integrated campaign will be carried out with support from the Measles Initiative, a partnership to reduce measles deaths in sub-Saharan Africa that is led by the UN Foundation, UN World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the American Red Cross and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It underlines the importance of follow-up in a country where only 64 per cent of children receive routine measles immunizations. Part of the Government’s Maternal and Child Health Mortality Reduction Programme, it will focus on vulnerable children, especially those in border regions where there has been a re-emergence of measles outbreaks.

Drawing on the 2003 success, additional life-saving activities will be integrated into the measles campaign. Some 800,000 insecticide treated nets will be distributed across seven provinces where malaria transmission rates are highest. Insecticide treated nets are proven to be one of the most effective methods for preventing malaria, a leading cause of death and disability for children in Angola.

Children under age five will also receive polio vaccinations, vitamin A and de-worming medication.

Since 2001, the Measles Initiative has vaccinated more than 213 million children in more than 40 African countries, saving approximately 1.2 million lives. Through the financial and technical support of the Measles Initiative and the commitment of African governments, measles deaths in Africa have fallen 60 per cent between 1999 and 2004, a significant step toward the overall goal of reducing measles deaths worldwide by 90 per cent by 2010.