Ministry Seeks to Quash Measles, Rubella Vaccination Rumors
The Ministry of Health has moved to calm public fears over the safety of the measles and rubella (MR) vaccine, which was administered to 4.5 million Cambodian children in the last three months of 2013, as rumors circulate that it poses sinister health risks, according to a statement issued last week. In January, the National Immunization Program announced it had surpassed by 500,000 its goal of giving the combined MR vaccine to 4 million children between 9 months and 15 years of age in October, November and December, the largest nationwide vaccination program ever carried out in Cambodia. “Recently, there have been a number of unfounded rumors that have wrongly caused confusion and provoked fear in some communities by questioning the source and quality of the vaccine which has been used so successfully in the vaccination campaign against measles and rubella in late 2013,” says the joint statement by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF. The statement assures the public that the vaccine is safe and properly sourced but does not elaborate upon the specific nature of the claims made against it. …
Simon Henderson and Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-seeks-to-quash-measles-rubella-vaccination-rumors-51213/
