UNICEF will vaccinate 134 million Indian children against measles in a joint drive with the World Health Organisation.
“The highly contagious disease claims the lives of some 400 children every day, and in 2008, three out of four children who died of measles were from India,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said yesterday.
“The campaign now under way in 14 high-risk Indian states aims to prevent up to 1,00,000 child deaths annually,” he said.