9th regional verification commission for measles and rubella elimination
Organization: WHO South-East Asia Regional Office
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Dates: 23-25 September 2024
Participants: A total of 40 participates attended the meeting. This included 11 SEA-RVC members, 2 prospective SEA-RVC members, 13 chairs/representatives of NVCs (National Verification Committee) and 14 donors, partners and observers.
Purpose: The purpose of the meeting was to review and verify progress made towards measles and rubella elimination by the countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region based on the Framework for Verification of Measles and Rubella Elimination published in February 2020.
Details: The meeting was organized by WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. The country progress reports submitted by the national verification committees (NVCs) of nine Member States were reviewed. The country reports tracked the progress towards two essential criteria and five lines of evidence on measles and rubella elimination. The progress report for Myanmar was presented by the WHO Country Office for Myanmar.
Based on careful review and interactions with representatives of the NVCs of the countries, the Commission verified that measles elimination was sustained in Bhutan, Maldives, and Timor-Leste and that rubella elimination was sustained in Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. The commission verified re-established transmission of measles in Sri-Lanka and expressed concern on the ongoing measles transmission in the country. The classification of DPR Korea was pending in the absence of report to review. The Commission was under the impression that Nepal might have eliminated Rubella and classified the country as “Eliminated.” The Commission categorized the remaining countries as “endemic” regarding measles and rubella transmission.
The SEA-RVC recognized the significant progress made in countries and acknowledges the catch-up and recovery activities conducted post- COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate progress towards measles and rubella elimination across the Region. The Commission also suggested several recommendations and actions for all countries to help develop evidence to verify measles and rubella elimination and its sustenance.
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Author: Sudhir Khanal, Regional Adviser- Accelerated Diseases Control, WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia.
Photo: WHO-SEARO, Session at the ninth meeting of WHO SEA-RVC, September 2024