Sophie and Olive draw their week in India
When it comes to people in India, there are only big numbers. More than 1.2 billion people live in the country, and about 27 million children are born there every year. For measles control, India is also thinking big. Health workers are in the final phases of vaccinating 134 million kids from ages 9 months to … Read more
By Reindeer, Jeep and on Foot: Reaching Every Child in Mongolia
A remarkable photo story shows the efforts of health workers in Mongolia as they strive to reach every child with the measles and rubella vaccine. At times travelling by jeep, reindeer, rope-drawn ferry and foot, workers attempt to immunize nomadic herder communities who account for a quarter of the country’s children. The campaign, led by … Read more
Schools, communities rally to reach more than 6.4 million Zambian children with measles vaccine
By Mark Maseko, Communication Officer, UNICEF Zambia More than 6.4 million children in Zambia aged between 6 months and 15 years – 46% of the population – had an opportunity to receive the life-saving measles vaccination during a week-long national campaign in mid-September. Schools, strong social mobilization and grassroots-level involvement Schools were fully involved in … Read more
Introducing Robert Kezaala, Head of Measles & Rubella, UNICEF
Through his work in EPI, measles and polio, Dr. Robert Kezaala is well known to many in the field of immunization. Unicef recently welcomed him as head of its measles and rubella programme, where he’ll be working closely with partners of the Measles & Rubella Initiative. Before his Unicef appointment Robert served as a Medical … Read more
Afghanistan vaccinates over 5.7 million children in combined measles and polio campaign
The coverage results are in, and show that the first round of a vaccination campaign in Afghanistan has already reached a remarkable 5.7 million children with measles vaccine. In mid-July, more than 27,000 health workers, volunteers and community mobilizers spanned 16 provinces in Afghanistan in a week-long drive to help stop transmission of measles and … Read more
Mass vaccination in Uganda: Lions Clubs dedication to eliminating measles
Notes from the field: a guest blog by Benjamin Futransky Lions, known worldwide for their dedication to preserving sight, have joined the Measles & Rubella Initiative in the effort to end measles. Benjamin Futransky, a Lions Clubs International Foundation staff member, recently traveled to Uganda while Lions Clubs members were actively involved in the country’s national … Read more
Measles mortality reduction: A successful global public health strategy
“Traveling through Africa in 2000 to assess the needs and begin to devise a plan, I was shocked to see every hospital had an entire ward for children with serious measles complications. Large numbers of beds were crowded into small areas occupied by children in their last phase of life.”
Is our 7 billionth human a fifth child?
Somewhere in the world today the seven billionth human being was born. We’ll never know for certain, but that child was probably born in India, a country set to overtake China as the world’s most populous. Thanks to incredible advances in health she has a much better chance to live a longer life than her … Read more
