The National Campaign for Vaccination against Measles, Rubella and Polio, in addition to vitamin A dose has been launched in all areas of Libya Saturday. The campaign lasts for seven days until the 15th of December and aims to vaccinate around 2.75 million children against measles, rubella and 1.5 million children against polio.
All children between 9 months and 15 years are targeted by Measles and Rubella vaccines and all children between one day of age and below 6 years are targeted with Polio.
“Today’s response to the campaign was excellent in all of Libya’s centers and regions as a result of the efforts made at the level of health centers as well as the support from UNICEF and the World Health Organization,” said Dr. Badruddin Al-Najjar, Director General of the National Center for Disease Control.
“The leadership of the Ministry of Health and the National Center for Disease Control has had a major impact on launching the campaign today, despite the challenges facing the health sector, given the current conditions in Libya,” said Dr. Jaafar Hussein, WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Libya.
“We started working with the National Center and the World Health Organization (WHO) to prepare for the campaign about seven months ago, and now we are ready to reap the rewards of a seven-month effort in seven days,” said Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghandour, UNICEF Special Representative in Libya.
Dr. Arif Hussain, the Director of the Migration Health Department in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya, commended the coordination and cooperation between the Government, the National Center, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. “We assure the Government and all partners of the continued presence to support similar activities to reach all children, regardless of their status or whereabouts.”
