5 June – The Afghan Government, with support from two United Nations agencies, today launched a countrywide, month-long campaign to vaccinate 5 million children against measles.

The campaign – backed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – will administer the measles vaccine to children between the ages of 9 months and 5 years, an age bracket that has the highest risk of measles mortality.

Part of a sustained national strategy that includes improved routine immunizations and surveillance, the month-long campaign is designed to curb measles, the most preventable cause of death among children in Afghanistan, UNICEF said.

“We know that 46 per cent of vaccine-preventable childhood deaths are attributable to measles,” said UNICEF Afghanistan Country Office Representative Sharad Sapra. “What we are seeing today, with the second chance for measles immunization that Afghanistan has created, is the dedication of Afghanistan’s leadership to giving a healthier future for the children of that nation.”

Some children will receive the vaccine for the first time, while many others were already covered in last year’s campaign that vaccinated more than 10 million children, UNICEF said. The 2002 campaign achieved 94 per cent coverage among children aged 6 months to 12 years, saving approximately 30,000 lives.

Meanwhile, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said there was another rocket attack three days ago on a deminer’s camp along the Kabul to Kandahar road. The rocket landed a few metres from the parking lot, with no injuries or damage to the camp.