About 1.6 million children under 14 from the capital city of Hanoi will be vaccinated against measles and rubella as part of a 2014-2015 vaccination campaign launched by the municipal Health Department. According to Dr. Nguyen Nhat Cam, Director of the city’s preventive medicine centre, this will be the largest-scale campaign, targeting children in 30 districts in the city. The three-phase drive aims to bring the rate of local children of this age group receiving measles-rubella vaccines to 95%, he said, adding that it will be implemented from mid-October 2014 to January 2015. The centre will guide communal and district health workers on how to organize and monitor the campaign, as well as preserve and use vaccines safely. As many as 1,642 cases of measles were reported in Hanoi earlier this year, 14 of which were fatalities. During the outbreak, vaccination proved effective. With 73,639 children aged from nine months to under-10 given shots, the outbreak was put under control by the end of May. (Vov.vn Sept 4)
