Say Yes, Autumn 2003: Eliminating Measles

As children return to school in all parts of the country, the Ministry of Health will oversee a massive drive to raise the vaccination coverage rate against measles -- by the end of the year, 95% of children will have immunity against the disease.
Photograph by Mahmut Oral © UNICEF Turkey 2003

Vaccination coverage rates for measles currently stand at 84% in Turkey. Every year since 1990, between fifteen and thirty thousand children mostly under fifteen years of age have had measles. In line with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF Global Measles Strategic Plan, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is dedicated to eliminating measles from Turkey by 2010.

One of the most contagious diseases and probably the best known and most deadly of all childhood illnesses, measles kills three quarters of a million people every year and may be the ultimate cause of more childhood deaths than any other single agent owing to complications from pneumonia, diarrhœa and malnutrition. Measles can also cause blindness, deafness and brain damage in those who survive infection.

Although vaccination against measles is one of the most cost effective health interventions available, coverage rates are hampered by the necessity of using a needle and syringe.

Because measles is highly contagious, a small number of those who are vaccinated do not develop immunity so levels need to be above 90% in order to effectively prevent transmission. In order to effectively eliminate measles in Turkey, the coverage rate for immunisation has been targeted at 95%.

The first step in a concerted drive to halt the spread of measles before the close of 2003 will be a comprehensive routine vaccination campaign focusing on primary school children in provinces with low coverage rates during the first two weeks of October.

It is vital that as many children as possible will be reached during the routine stage of the vaccination drive, so the media will be briefed in advance in order to ensure that the public is properly informed.

All children below the age of fourteen will be vaccinated regardless of whether or not they attend school. Children who have already had the disease and those who have been vaccinated prior to the campaign will also be vaccinated in order to confirm their immunity.

Successful elimination of the disease will be supported by ongoing surveillance of incidences of infection within Turkey. Transmission of the virus from neighbouring countries will be closely monitored and controlled in order to reduce the potential of further outbreaks in much the same way that incidence of the polio virus continues to be monitored.

The Measles Elimination Programme will rely on the cooperation of the Ministry of National Education (MONE) and the Ministry of Labour as well as the Military, the private sector and voluntary organisations and the United Nations. Lessons learned from the coordination of this wide ranging group of agencies will be invaluable in future social mobilisation projects.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation have more information on Measles and other infectious childhood diseases. Read what WHO says about vaccine preventable disease control and elimination in Europe.

See our Programmes section for more details on immunisation in Turkey.

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SAY YES, AUTUMN 2003

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