United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Dainius Puras has commended the Fijian Government for its response to the measles outbreak.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Dainius Puras has commended the Fijian Government for its response to the measles outbreak.

With 16 confirmed cases and zero deaths, Puras says a lot is being done to contain the disease.

On an eight-day mission to Fiji, the UN expert has seen emergency initiatives firsthand.

“It’s a very serious issue and we know that in some other countries there are deaths. Fiji is doing well with the management of this outbreak and I could see how much is done every day, for example, a lot of work has been done with Sporting Federations. Well, it can be painful for many to cancel sport events in a country which really loves sports.

Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan says phase two of the immunization campaign was rolled out on Wednesday.

“We know we’re focusing on the Central division right now but once we get more vaccine in, this will roll out as well to the rest of the country. We will target these age groups – the six months to five-year-olds and 19 to 39-year-olds in the rest of the country. But just that right now the cases are all in Central division and we’re still trying to contain it within this area. But this campaign will have a phase three which will also roll out to the rest of the country.”

Out of the 16 confirmed cases, 11 cases are from the Serua/Namosi Subdivision, 3 from Suva Subdivision and 2 cases from Rewa Subdivision.