Pressroom

Source: Reuters

By: Ee Lyn, Tan

09/01/2010

China will launch a measles immunization campaign in September in an attempt to eliminate the disease. Health officials are targeting nearly 100 million children for the single-dose drive, according to David Hipgrave, chief of health and nutrition at UNICEF China. “It’s a catch-up campaign to boost the levels of immunity among children who may have missed the second dose, or in whom one of the doses was not effective,” said Hipgrave. China had more than 52,000 cases of measles last year, and the nation accounts for 86 percent of all cases of the disease in the western Pacific. Michael O’Leary, the World Health Organization’s representative in China, noted that residents of remote areas, huge urban expanses, and the large migrant population may have less access to vaccines and not be protected against the disease.