Vietnam Hanoi Kickstarts Free Rubella Vaccination June 3

Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi has started to provide free rubella vaccinations for children from 18 months old, state media reported on June 5. All children from 18 months to 14 years old who have not been vaccinated for rubella will be able to get the vaccine for free at local vaccination centers. From September 2014 to June 2015, Hanoi has vaccinated over one million children against rubella. The city plans to shot another 70,000 to 80,000 children for the rest of the year. In the first five months this year, Vietnam recorded 905 rubella cases, down 96.33% from 24,701 cases in the same period in 2014. Hanoi is reported to have 187 rubella cases, down from 5,944 cases on year. The World Health Organization reported 168 out 194 countries have 35,981 rubella cases as of May 15 this year. East Pacific top the region with 14,502 cases or 40% of total cases, followed by Africa with 14,401 cases. (Chinhphu.vn June 3)