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September 13 – October 8, 2004, Madagascar

What you need to know:

Measles is a leading cause of childhood death. In 2000, it caused nearly half of all the 1.7 million childhood vaccine preventable deaths around the world.
Of all health interventions, measles immunization carries the highest return for money – just US$0.26 per dose.
Although in Madagascar, measles officially accounted for 1% of all hospital based deaths and 350,000 reported illnesses in 2002, only half of all children in the country are completely vaccinated and therefore protected.
In order to halt a potentially deadly measles epidemic, it is imperative that all children between the ages of nine months and 14 years are vaccinated against measles.

What is planned:

From September 13 – October 8th, one of the largest immunization drives in Madagascar’s history will be launched – a nationwide measles campaign to vaccinate 7.5 million children all around the country.
The campaign is an extraordinary undertaking for a country whose sheer size (think France, Luxemburg, Netherlands and Belgium all put together), topography, poor communication infrastructure and limited human resources present enormous challenges.

Why you should cover this story:

Madagascar may indeed be the ninth poorest country in the world (WDR, GNI 2003), but it is also a country on the move. Preliminary results from the 2004 DHS show that under five mortality has dropped from 159 in 1997 to 94 in 2004.
This campaign is without precedent and involves the mobilization of thousands of community health workers, students, teachers, private sector companies, local healers, traditional chiefs, soldiers, religious groups and medical students amongst others to ensure that every child between the ages of nine months and fourteen years is vaccinated against measles.
Come join us on the Measles Trail in Madagascar and be the first to document this momentous undertaking -- all the way from the baobabs of Morondava to the Tsingy of Ankarana.

We look forward to hearing from you!:

Misbah M. Sheikh
Communication Officer
UNICEF Madagascar
Tel: +261 20 22 626 45/46
Mobile: + 261 33 11 892 83
Email:msheikh@unicef.org