Mumps immunisation campaign starts on March 3

The Ministry of Health will launch a nationwide vaccination campaign against mumps on March 3, Info-Prim Neo reports. The first 16,000 doses of vaccine arrived in Chisinau on Wednesday afternoon. The delivered shots are part of the first consignment of 100,000 doses destined for the campaign. The remaining 24,000 and 60,000 shots, respectively, will be available within a couple of days. The total cost of the first consignment is 1.8 million lei, allocated by the Moldovan Medicine Agency. The second consignment consisting of 210,000 doses of vaccine worth $ 678,692 is to arrive in Moldova in the course of the next week. Purchasing the vaccine was possible thanks to the financial support of the World Bank through the agency of UNICEF. The campaign will start first in the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti, and then will spread throughout the country. The vaccination in municipalities will be ensured by the territorial public health associations, while in districts by the centres of family physicians. The immunisation campaign mainly targets the youth in the age group 14-24, as well as persons at increased risk for mumps. Shots will be given by family doctors at educational and medical establishments likewise. According to data from the National Centre for Preventive Medicine, approximately 11,100 mumps reports have been registered since the beginning of the year. No lethal cases have been recorded. At a news conference in late January, Health Minister Ion Ababii said the vaccination campaign against mumps would start in February. The estimated cost of the campaign was 13 million lei, and since such sums hadn’t been planned in the State Budget, the health authorities intended to appeal to international organisations for help. The Government, the local authorities and the National Health Insurance Corporation have also been asked to contribute.