Minister of Defence Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim has said that it is very likely that Maldives will be soon announced as a Measles free country.
Minister Nazim made this remark speaking at the ceremony held to give certificates to the participants of the training program on vaccine stock management held with the assistance of World Health Organization (WHO).
Minister Nazim said that Maldives was the first country in the region to have announced to be polio free and Maldives has achieved remarkable success in giving polio vaccine.
The Minister said that the decrease in infant deaths and the increase in the well being of the children in Maldives is the result of giving vaccines to prevent diseases during their childhood. He said that many works are done to strengthen this endeavor.
Minister Nazim noted that WHO South-East Asia Region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, was certified polio-free today by an independent commission under the WHO certification process. He said that Certification of the Region comes as countries prepare for the introduction of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in routine immunization as part of the eventual phasing out of oral polio vaccines (OPV). More than 120 countries currently use only OPV. These countries will introduce a dose of IPV by the end of 2015 as part of their commitment to the global polio endgame plan which aims to ensure a polio-free world by 2018.
He said that he is very happy that Maldives is now preparing to introduce IPV dose.