Romania: Measles/Rubella Vaccination Social Mobilization Campaign

Following an outbreak of measles which began in December, 1998 the World Health Organization (WHO/EURO) and the U.S. Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) undertook a mission to Romania to March, 1998. With the probability of measles becoming epidemic in 2002, the mission recommended that a catch-up vaccination campaign be conducted in schools in 1998, targeting all children from 7-18 years of age.

The Romanian Red Cross (RRC) was requested by the Ministry of Health to participate, as an auxiliary to the public authorities, in mobilising the target population for the proposed national vaccination programme. Additional support was requested from the International Federation, through the Romanian Red Cross, to provide financial assistance to carry out the campaign. The social mobilisation campaign was to focus on informing and motivating the general public and, more specifically, parents, adolescents, schools and other groups or institutions responsible for or working with children within the target age group (7-18 years) to achieve the highest possible vaccination coverage, explaining why young people should be vaccinated and paying special attention to vaccination amongst the more vulnerable groups, including out-of-school children. The main elements and results of the programme are outlined in this document.