Aggressive immunisation campaigns in Uganda have cut the numbers of children dying of measles from 6,000 to 300 annually over the past 10 years, a Ministry of Health official said.
The director of health services, Sam Okware, said on Tuesday the ministry used to record up to 60,000 cases, with 6,000 deaths, 10 years ago, "but now the cases have reduced by 10 times and last year we recorded about 300 deaths, which is a great achievement".
He said the drop was due to increased immunisation coverage - from 43 percent in 2000 to 85 percent in 2006. The introduction of second courses of immunisation for all children countrywide, scheduled for July 2007, would further increase the coverage to 99 percent.
Measles, an acute viral respiratory illness associated with high fever, rashes and vomiting, is considered one of the most deadly vaccine-preventable diseases, accounting for an estimated 777,000 childhood deaths per year worldwide, with more than half occurring in Africa, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Symptoms include fever, sneezing, nasal congestion, coughing and conjunctivitis. Affected children may also suffer permanent disability, including brain damage, blindness and deafness.
Okware said: "Immunisation of all children at nine months so far has covered 85 percent, leaving out 15 percent. We have therefore introduced another course of immunisation, which will see children immunised twice at nine months and getting a booster dose at 12 months, to capture the remaining percentage."
He said measles, as well as other preventable diseases, such as meningitis, have been major killers in Uganda but, under a US$6.5 million measles vaccination campaign covering 80 districts countrywide, 85 percent of the targeted 5.7 million children up to five years old were immunised.
The deputy health minister in charge of primary healthcare, Emmanuel Otala, said the ministry hoped that after the second round of immunisation in July, measles would be eradicated in Uganda.
"We shall only expect measles among about one percent of the children who are either malnourished or living with HIV/AIDS, who are vulnerable to such infections," Otala said.
He added that the vaccination programme would be implemented with funding from bilateral donors and UN agencies.
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