Press
Release
UNICEF hails immunization campaign to
prevent birth defects in Central Asia
BISHKEK / NEW YORK / GENEVA, 28 November 2001 - UNICEF,
the United Nations Children's Fund hailed the launch in
Kyrgyzstan today of a massive immunization campaign to
reach 2 million children and young people between the
ages of 7 and 25 with rubella vaccines. The campaign is
part of a regional strategy to eliminate measles and significantly
reduce rubella in Central Asia and Eastern Europe by 2007.
Rubella is a major cause of birth defects in children,
accounting for an estimated 110,000 cases of Congenital
Rubella Syndrome (CRS) per year worldwide. If contracted
during pregnancy, rubella often results in miscarriage
or the birth of an infant with severe congenital defects
including deafness, blindness, mental retardation and
heart anomalies. The disease can easily be prevented by
immunization.
"It is unacceptable for children to suffer from
life-long birth defects such as deafness and blindness
from congenital rubella syndrome when we have an effective,
safe and inexpensive vaccine," said Carol Bellamy,
Executive Director of UNICEF. "For just an additional
28 cents, a child can receive a combined rubella/measles
vaccine, as part of routine immunization," she
added.
UNICEF has taken the lead in preventing birth defects
from Congenital Rubella Syndrome among new-borns in Kyrgyzstan
by supporting a nationwide campaign to immunize all children
with a combined rubella/measles vaccine. The other key
partners supporting the effort include the Kyrgyz Ministry
of Health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the Kyrgyz Red Crescent Society,
the American Red Cross, the International Federation of
Red Cross and the March of Dimes.
The campaign marks the first time that UNICEF has collaborated
with March of Dimes in immunizing children against vaccine-preventable
diseases.
"We hope this historic new collaboration between
the March of Dimes and UNICEF is the beginning of a long
and fruitful relationship between the two agencies,"
said Dr. Michael Katz, Vice-President for Research of
the March of Dimes. "The work we are doing together
will help prevent severe disability among children worldwide."
All the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have endorsed
the WHO policy to significantly reduce rubella by 2007.
Kyrgyzstan is the first country in the region to begin
seriously addressing the problem. Ultimately, the campaign
will avert up to 6,000 birth defects every year from congenital
rubella syndrome in children in the region.
Launching the campaign, the Chief of President Administration,
Mr. Karypkulov said, "Our country is committed to
the regional goal of eliminating measles and rubella -
two serious infections which cause damage to the health
of the population. However, elimination of these diseases
can only be achieved by maintaining high routine immunization,
adding an extra dose of measles/rubella vaccine in the
childhood immunization schedule and conducting a one-time
mass immunization campaign."
The rubella vaccination is administered free of charge
at fixed and temporary immunization posts by trained and
experienced health staff. The objective of the Ministry
of Health is to reach at least 95 per cent of children
within the target groups.
"International partners are satisfied with the quality
of the cold chain and safe injection practice in Kyrgyzstan
and have trained health workers on different aspects of
immunization," said Dr Sergei Deshevoi, Medical Officer
with the European Regional Office of the World Health
Organisation. "WHO and partners will conduct a safe
immunization campaign against measles and rubella and
will ensure that the campaign contributes significantly
to sustaining safe immunization services in the country."
As part of their long-term immunization goal, the Government
of Kyrgyzstan has committed to introduce and fund the
additional measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination in
their routine immunization schedule starting in 2002.
This will be the first time that rubella will be included
in the routine immunization in the country.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
is very pleased to be a partner in this new initiative
to prevent measles and rubella in Central Asia,"
said Dr. Stephen Cochi, Director of the Global Immunization
Division at CDC. "This is a major step forward in
the worldwide fight against these two deadly diseases."
UNICEF and WHO have jointly developed a strategy to reduce
the number of measles deaths by half by 2005 and also
to reduce morbidity from rubella. The plan encourages
countries to seize the opportunity to eliminate rubella
through the use of measles-rubella (MR) or measles-mumps-rubella
(MMR) vaccines in their childhood immunization programmes.
Bellamy urges all countries to step up their immunization
programmes to give children a good start in life. "Immunization
is a key ingredient in helping children reach the highest
attainable standard of health," she said. "
Immunization is the right of every child."
###
For additional information, please contact:
Mohammad Jalloh,
UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326 7516
e-mail: mjalloh@unicef.org
More on CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/pink/rubella.pdf
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