UNICEF delivers additional doses of vaccines to Ukraine

By Edoardo Giribaldi

UNICEF has delivered an additional 657,000 doses of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to Ukraine as part of Ukraine’s National Vaccination Program.

Effective protection

Muhammad Tariq Iqbal, Immunization Specialist at UNICEF Ukraine, highlighted how “there are no specific drugs” to deal with measles infections. However, vaccines provide “effective protection,” especially for children.

During the conflict, Ukraine registered an increase in measles cases. The cause is to be found in the overcrowding that is present in spaces such as air raid shelters.

Joint efforts

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister, Chief State Health Physician, Ihor Kuzin, underlined the extensive campaigns carried on by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with UNICEF and WHO to prevent a measles outbreak in the country.

“Throughout the summer, thanks to the joint efforts of partners in the regions, children who have missed one or two vaccinations will be vaccinated," Kuzin affirmed, reiterating the risks that such a disease might cause to the youngest part of the population.

“An infected child can transmit it to up to seven unvaccinated children on average before the onset of symptoms,” Kuzin concluded. 

Awareness campaigns

Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine, spoke about how the organization, together with its partners, “is working to make vaccines available to all."

One of the many interventions consists in the nationwide support of “awareness campaigns” and the conduction of “various trainings for health workers.”

WHO has also delivered buses to the Ministry of Health, which are being used “by mobile medical teams in remote rural areas to carry out vaccinations against measles, COVID-19, tetanus and diphtheria."