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UNICEF facilitates a fast track delivery of measles vaccines at the request of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine [EN/UK]

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Ukraine
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UNICEF
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KYIV, 6 February 2018 - A new shipment of 220,000 doses of Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccines will arrive to Ukraine in late February 2018. The vaccines produced by GlaxoSmithKline (Belgium) will be delivered by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine and further distributed to the regions.

UNICEF has procured a new consignment of the MMR vaccine at the request of the Ministry of Health as part of UNICEF’s support to the Government immunization program. Thanks to its recognized global procurement expertise, UNICEF was able to purchase an additional 1,097,600 doses of the MMR vaccine for Ukraine to respond to the current measles crisis.
The delivery in February will be followed by two more dispatches later in spring. In fact, UNICEF will deliver 800,000 doses by the end of March, and 77, 600 doses in late May.

In the second half of the year, UNICEF will also deliver 901,400 doses of MMR vaccines. It is expected that the supplies provided in February, March and May will be sufficient to cover the existing interim needs.

"We are grateful to our partners, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine, for the possibility of organizing a much needed delivery of MMR vaccines in the shortest time period. This shipment will enable us to address the ongoing measles outbreak in Ukraine. We see that some regions are gradually exhausting their vaccine stocks, and the Ministry of Health continues to re-distribute the available stock to the regions where the supplies are not sufficient”, said Volodymyr Kurpita, Director General of the Center for Public Health at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

“UNICEF has been working with manufacturers of measles vaccines to ensure that the next consignment to Ukraine is received at the earliest possible time. With these additional and planned deliveries in pipeline, we are confident that Ukraine will not run out of measles vaccine, despite the increased demand created by this outbreak,” highlighted Laura Bill, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Ukraine.

In January 2018, 3,554 cases of measles were registered in Ukraine, including 1,165 adults and 2,389 children.

The majority of cases were registered in Ivano-Frankivsk (804), Odesa (640), Zakarpattia (549), Chernivtsi (444) and Lviv (242) regions.

There is no specific treatment for the measles virus, However, this disease can be easily prevented with two doses of vaccine, which is the only reliable prevention of measles. According to the routine vaccine calendar in Ukraine, vaccinations against are carried out at one and six years of age. If a child missed the first or second dose of the MMR vaccine, parents need to contact a health facility and get the free of charge vaccine as soon as possible.

As of 6 February 2018, there are 267,000 doses of measles vaccine available in Ukraine the stocks are insufficient. Until the next shipment is delivered at the end of this month, MOH is re-distributing vaccines to the areas with insufficient supplies. Redistribution to Odesa, Mykolayiv, Ivano-Frankivska,
Zakarpattia and Kyiv regions areplanned. On 3 February, Kyiv city received 4,000 MMR doses, according to redistribution.

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit http://www.unicef.org.ua Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook.

For more information, please contact:

Nina Sorokopud, UNICEF Ukraine nsorokopud@unicef.org +380 50 388 2951