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June 06, 2003
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS
New Campaign of Measles Vaccination Launched in
Afghanistan
UNICEF and the World Health Organization have
launched a nationwide measles campaign in the country. During the month-long
program, an estimated 5 million children ages nine months to five years will
receive measles shots. Health officials hope this campaign will be as
successful as the one held last year, which reached more than 10 million
children for about 94 percent coverage. Statistics show a sharp decline in the
number of measles cases in Afghanistan last year, with the monthly rate dropping
from 400 in January to just 94 for December. Officials say the new immunization
campaign is part of country's public health strategy to lower the risks for
measles by improving outbreak responses, surveillance, and routine immunization.
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knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended
as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate
is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in
consultation with your health care provider.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"