Mothers and their children in a queue waiting to receive measles vaccinations as part of a UNICEF-supported immunization campaign at the Beerta Muuri camp for internally displaced persons in Baidoa, Somalia. UN Photo (file)

8 January 2018 

One million children aged six months to 10 years in Puntland and 4.2 million across Somalia were reached during a five-day measles campaign that wrapped up on Sunday, the United Nations has reported.

“It is a priority for WHO [World Health Organisation] to continue supporting the Ministry of Health and maintaining the close partnership with the local health authorities and partners to control disease outbreaks like measles and ensure high vaccination coverage for all Somali children,” said Dr. Ghulam Popal, WHO Representative to Somalia.

“It is unfortunate that measles cases are still being reported while there is effective vaccine available,” he added.

The campaign was conducted in partnership with WHO, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Somalia's Ministry of Health.

This story first appeared on the UN News Centre. Read more on this here.