Ceremony Recognizing the Achievement of Measles Elimination by Brunei Darussalam

It gives me great pleasure to be with you today to celebrate the achievement of measles elimination by the Government of Brunei Darussalam.

As you know, measles is a serious public health problem globally.

Before widespread vaccination, the situation was much worse. Measles used to cause more than 2.5 million deaths a year worldwide.

Even today, this highly contagious disease continues to be a leading cause of death among young children.

These deaths can be prevented, easily and inexpensively. The cost to protect a child from this disease is less than a dollar — with a safe and effective vaccine that has been in use for 50 years.

While children may be at the highest risk, keep in mind that anyone who is not protected with both doses of measles vaccine can become infected.

The key is to protect enough people so that that virus — which only affects people — will stop spreading. Usually 95 per cent of a population needs to be immunized to stop the virus's spread.

That is the first step towards elimination.

All six WHO regions have committed to regional measles elimination goals. Five of the six — including the Western Pacific — are on track to achieve elimination by 2020.

As we work to stamp out measles globally, regional verification commissions will be increasingly important.

The commission for the Western Pacific is an independent advisory body with 14 members, who are appointed by the WHO Regional Office. The commission essentially review the reports submitted by national verification committees.

For Brunei Darussalam, measles elimination is one in a long list of accomplishments that have improved the health and being and well-of the country's more than 400 thousand people.

Your achievement represents an important step in the progress towards measles elimination in the entire Western Pacific Region.

To maintain elimination, we must ensure that countries and areas have a sensitive surveillance system to detect imported measles cases early. We also must ensure that high rates of vaccination are maintained.

Again, Brunei Darussalam provides an example others can emulate.

Here, the two doses of measles vaccine are part of the routine immunization programme. In addition, rubella surveillance and combination measles-rubella vaccines have been integrated into the programme.

In this way, Brunei Darussalam will not only sustain measles elimination, but also work towards eliminating rubella and the threat it poses to unborn babies.

Once again, on behalf of WHO, I extend my sincere congratulations to the Government of Brunei Darussalam for a job well done.

Thank you.