The comeback of measles in recent years has become a significant threat to global health. The highly contagious viral disease has made its way across the globe fueled in part by a lack of access to vaccines, and complacency.
In a landmark achievement, Sri Lanka defied the world trend in the battle against measles, with the country declaring free of the killer childhood disease. The country reported its last homegrown case of the virus in May 2016. Sporadic cases reported in the last three years were imported from abroad but were quickly detected, investigated and received a rapid response.
According to the WHO, Sri Lanka’s success is the result of its persistent efforts to ensure maximum coverage with two doses of measles and rubella vaccines being provided in the childhood immunization program. The vaccination coverage in the country has been consistently high – over 95 percent with both the first and second dose of measles and rubella vaccine provided to children under the routine immunization scheme.
