Banjul, 12 December 2011 -- The Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, this morning launched the national measles vaccination campaign at the Kanifing Municipal Council Headquarters. An estimated 310735 children between 9 and 59 months are targeted for this exercise. Vitamin A supplementation for the 6 - 59 months old, representing a target population of 329014 children, will also be carried out simultaneously during the one week exercise which ends on Sunday, 18th of December 2011.

In a brief statement at the official launch, the Honourable Minister thanked traditional partners of the health sector notably WHO and UNICEF for their invaluable contributions to this and previous campaigns. The Honorable Minister also acknowledged the support and contributions the two organizations have made and continue to make to the Gambia’s overall immunization programme. These efforts, according to the Honourable Minister, resulted in marked reduction in vaccine preventable diseases, notably measles and polio since 2004 when the Gambia was certified polio free by the World Health Organization.

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