Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien (standing) speaks at the working session with HCM City’s Health Department (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – on March 9 inspected
the of in Ho Chi Minh City as there has been an unusually
high number of cases recorded in the southern city since the end of 2018.
Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Huu Hung said from
2018 to February 2019, the city recorded 4,327 measles cases, including over
2,600 in the first two months of this year.
Though the number of cases tends to decline, it remains very high compared to
previous years, he said, adding that the disease has appeared in 285 out of the
city’s 319 wards and communes.
The city’s health department found that 97 percent of the infected cases had
not been vaccinated or fully vaccinated, Hung noted.
Currently, the rate of measles in the city is estimated at 96
percent for the first shot and 80 percent for the second one. This rate is
still far from the target of 95 percent, according to Hung.
Given the fact, Tien directed the city’s health department to coordinate with
the education sector and People’s Committees in districts to promote the
supervision of vaccination in the community, especially in the group of
under-five-year-old children as well as increase awareness-raising campaigns in
densely populated areas.
The minister asked health stations to increase the injection days to 2-4 in a
month instead of one at present.
The city’s health centre should set up mobile injection teams to prevent the
spread of the disease as soon as possible, Tien suggested.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
