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National MMR, yellow fever vaccines campaign launched
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday urged Guyanese to immunized against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and yellow fever, when he launched a national campaign against the diseases at the Ministry of Health, Brickdam. Alluding to the campaign against rubella, Prime Minister Hinds said, it followed on the heels of a commitment given by the minister responsible for health in the CARICOM region to eliminate rubella and congenital rubella by the year 2000. He said Guyana is implementing the resolution this year. The campaign against yellow fever is a continuation of one which had started in December 1998 at Guyana's border area. According to the Prime Minister, yellow fever was sporadic in Guyana until December last year when an outbreak of the disease was noticed at the border areas. He urged Guyanese to be immunized to reduce yellow fever infection. He also challenged the health workers who would be involved in the countrywide campaign to approach their job with understanding and to meet their target. Minister of Health, Dr Henry Jeffrey, in his opening remarks, said the campaign which would cost $25 million is expected to be completed within three months. Jeffrey disclosed this sum pales in comparison to the fact that it costs about $10 million to take life-long care of a single person infected with rubella. He said although there has been a reduction in cases of the disease from 1997 with 144 cases to two dozen confirmed cases in 1998, it is still recognised as a problem in Guyana. Jeffrey noted it could turn out to be a very costly problem. Cataract and deafness are two causes of rubella disease. Jeffrey noted since Guyana was close to countries like Brazil and Venezuela that have the disease precautions had to be taken. He said since Guyana was a small country, it was decided to vaccinate everyone against the yellow fever. According to minister, immunization has already been done in the border areas of Brazil and Venezuela. The campaign for the entire country started yesterday. He said that health workers would be dealing with over a million people. Approximately 700,000 persons are expected to be immunized against yellow fever, and 400,000 between the ages of six to 30 against rubella. Jeffrey thanked the Pan-American Organisation (PAHO) and the United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) for their continued support for the eradication of these diseases. He said the two organisations have provided millions of dollars to assist in carrying out the programmes.
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