More than 36,000 children living in camps in northern Sri Lanka after being uprooted by the recent conflict will be vaccinated against measles in a special child health campaign launched this week by the Government, United Nations agencies and their partners.The campaign, which will target all children under the age of five, aims to counter the sporadic cases of measles which have occurred in the past months and prevent risk of further outbreak.
Supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), it follows several weeks of preparations to pre-position immunization supplies, train health workers and mobilize volunteers.
Nearly 100 public health midwives and 1,200 volunteers will participate at 30 centres in Vavuniya, where the majority of the 280,000 people that fled the fighting between Government forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are residing.
Along with the measles immunization, children will be given a dose of vitamin A and de-worming tablets – two additional life-saving interventions aimed at raising a child's resistance against many diseases and preventing malnutrition, while freeing them from worms. Children will also be given the polio vaccine.
"Children under five are the most vulnerable part of a population especially in emergencies; this campaign will help save lives," said Desiree Jongsma, Acting UNICEF Country Representative.
According to UNICEF, measles remains one of the major causes of childhood illness and a leading cause of child deaths worldwide, especially in countries undergoing or recovering from emergencies.
Immunization activities, together with vitamin A supplementation, are the most effective meanos of reducing mortality during and after complex emergencies, it added.
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