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WHO says Cambodia is measles-free

Xinhua, March 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Cambodia has achieved the elimination of measles, said a joint statement released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Cambodian Ministry of Health on Friday.

According to the statement, there has been no laboratory- confirmed measles cases reported in the country since November 2011.

The statement said the WHO Regional Verification Commission for Measles met on March 24-27 in China's Macao and declared Cambodia along with Brunei and Japan to have successfully eliminated measles.

Dongil Ahn, representative of WHO-Cambodia, congratulated Cambodia for its decades-long efforts towards eliminating measles.

"Our next steps now would be to strengthen measles surveillance activities and maintain optimal population immunity," he said.

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders and development partners for working with Cambodia to achieve this status.

Measles is the most highly infectious disease worldwide, killing approximately 400 people every day, mostly children under the age of five, the statement said.

Cambodia was endemic to measles for many years. The Ministry of Health established a measles vaccination program in 1986 and started case-based surveillance in 1998. Endi