NAY PYI TAW, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's health authorities are planning to conduct vaccination for over four million babies aged between nine months to 18 months against measles in October this year, Union Minister for Health and Sports U Myint Htwe told the House of Nationalities on Tuesday.
"As measles is highly contagious and its outbreak mostly occurs in regions with highest children population, immunization is needed to cover about 95 percent of Myanmar's children population," the union minister said.
Efforts are underway to cooperate with local ethnic organizations for the nationwide vaccination program in far-flung areas in Rakhine and Kachin states while preparations to eradicate measles from the country are also being carried out, he added.
In 2018, the nationwide vaccination against measles covered about 80 percent of the population of children aged nine to 18 months when about 1,276 laboratory-confirmed cases of measles, fatal infectious disease caused by the measles virus were reported.
The measles virus is spread through direct contact with infectious droplets or by airborne spread through cough and sneeze of the infected people.
