THAILAND JUST KNOCKED RUBELLA OFF THE PUBLIC-HEALTH LIST.
Decades of vaccination and surveillance turned a dangerous pregnancy infection into a preventable public-health victory.
THAILAND JUST KNOCKED RUBELLA OFF THE PUBLIC-HEALTH LIST
WHO has verified that Thailand interrupted endemic rubella transmission and has systems in place to sustain that achievement.
WHAT HAPPENED
After reviewing surveillance, molecular epidemiology, immunization coverage, outbreak response and program performance, the WHO regional verification commission recommended Thailand be verified for eliminating rubella as a public health problem. Thailand becomes the seventh country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to reach rubella elimination.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
Because public-health wins can be almost invisible: fewer infections, fewer miscarriages and fewer babies born with congenital rubella syndrome. This is decades of ordinary systems producing an extraordinary absence.
ORIGINAL SOURCEWorld Health OrganizationRead the original report