The Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Pan American Health Organization have partnered in a campaign to increase the number of measles vaccinations in the country.

Over the weekend Minister, of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville and PAHO Country Representative, Dr. Eldonna Boisson were part of a group of health care professionals going door to door in the Coconut Grove area on Saturday.

Dr. Darville told ZNS News, “it’s important that we be successful in our venture because around us countries where we get tourists from we’re noticing the increase in measles. So it’s important for us now to find the defaulters, make sure that we immunize as many as we possibly can and to ensure that we send the message to mothers as well as the Bahamian population the importance of childhood immunizations particularly MMR.”

Dr. Boisson also stressed the need for more people to be vaccination citing cases from around the region.  She said, “a lot of people think that measle is just a little rash and that’s it and it is for some but for some you can have very serious complications and some even die. We’ve had four deaths in the region already, three in the US, one in Mexico and we have further cases that have died that are under investigation to see if it’s measles. In Canada we’ve had a lot of kids being hospitalized. We don’t want our kids to have to get there.”

The PAHO representative expressed that the vaccine is perfectly safe and that while measles is treatable there is no cure.