Say Yes, Spring 2005: Catching Up On Measles

In December 2003, roughly 11 million Turkish schoolchildren between 6 and 14 years of age were successfully vaccinated against measles -- a coverage rate of 97%. In October 2004, a second phase was launched with the aim of vaccinating 90% of under-fives and children out of school in ten hard-to-reach provinces. This Spring, the Ministry of Health (MOH), working with the Ministry of National Education (MONE), took the Measles Elimination campaign a stage further by conducting a one-off ‘catch-up’ campaign for children between 9 months and 14 years.

During the five week campaign, which ran from the 25th of April to the end of May, a further 8.5 million pre-school children aged between 9 months and 6 years were targeted along with the remaining children under 15 years who were not attending school.

It is expected that the ‘catch-up’ campaign will significantly reduce the incidence of measles -- still one of the major causes of childhood disease, disability and death.

At the official launch of this stage of the campaign in İstanbul on the 27th of April, Minister of Health, Dr Recep Akdağ said that:

Turkey is aiming to increase vaccination coverage to 95% and roughly 50,000 health care staff will work to vaccinate all eligible children nationwide. We intend to immunise 20 million children against the disease by the end of this campaign -- the highest number in Europe to date.

Dr Akdağ renewed the MOH and UNICEF’s ongoing appeal for more support from the media. Emphasising the need to raise public awareness of the campaign’s objective to eradicate measles among all Turkish children, Dr Akdağ said:

The capacity of the media to reach into every home and every corner of the country is an invaluable resource, a public service, that important campaigns such as this one cannot do without.

Dr John Spika of WHO Copenhagen and the UNICEF Representative in Turkey, Mr Edmond McLoughney also attended the inauguration ceremony with Dr Akdağ.

Mr McLoughney noted that:

Roughly 1,400 children die each year in Turkey in spite of the fact that the vaccine itself is inexpensive and effective -- the primary cause being a general lack of public awareness regarding the effects of the disease. Families can easily overlook the necessity of getting their children immunised. So raising awareness is what this event is all about.

The sooner the threat that measles poses to childhood is eliminated the better -- not just in Turkey but everywhere in the world. And Turkey is an admirable example for the entire CEE/CIS Region with its impressive progress towards eradicating the disease.

Dr Akdağ officially launched the immunisation drive by vaccinating three infants. Unfortunately the children were unable to resist shedding a few tears -- despite the incentive of a little chocolate!

Following the launch, hundreds of local school children and children who work on the street joined Dr Akdağ in a march along İstanbul’s İstiklal Caddesi to Taksim -- perhaps one of the busiest shopping areas in the city -- in order to draw attention to the campaign. The children entertained mid-week shoppers with a song improvised around the slogans on their placards.

The Measles Elimination campaign is organised with financial and technical support from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several non-governmental organisations have also been involved, especially in reaching children who are not attending school.

Measles continues to be one of the most significant causes of childhood mortality and the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in childhood the world over. In Turkey, the disease is the sixth most common cause of death for infants under four years old.

The WHO/UNICEF measles mortality reduction strategy aims for a 50% reduction in measles deaths by 2005 from the 873,000 deaths reported in 1999.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe developed and implemented a strategic plan for measles and congenital rubella infection in 2002 which outlines the strategies to eliminate measles in the WHO European Region by 2010.

Immunisation is considered among the most cost-effective of health investments:

• it has a well defined target group;
• contact with the health system is only needed at the time of delivery;
• vaccination does not require any major change of lifestyle.

Following completion of the ‘catch-up’ stage, the MOH announced in June that the objective of the Measles Elimination campaign has been successfully achieved with a coverage rate of 94.6%.

Although the result is excellent, the programme will carry on until the end of 2005 in order to ensure that every child is protected from the disease.

The strengthening of routine immunisation will continue until Turkey is measles-free.

Read more about the launch of the latest stage of the Measles Elimination campaign in the Press centre.

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