With UNICEF and EU Support, Ministry of Health to Launch a National MMR Immunization Campaign

With support from UNICEF and the EU, the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Institute for Public Health and primary health centres, will urgently organize a national campaign to increase the MMR immunization coverage in Montenegro. This was agreed at a meeting between the Minister of Health, Jelena Borovinic Bojovic, and UNICEF Montenegro Representative, Juan Santander.

At the meeting, leaders agreed that the campaign will be based on data about MMR immunization coverage rates for every municipality, which the IPH will publish as soon as possible. Data from recent years indicate that far too few young children in Montenegro are immunized against measles, mumps and rubella on time. This leaves the youngest children exposed to diseases that can kill them.

The Minister pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic affected vaccination coverage in Montenegro, as well as in the rest of the world, including the European Union. The Minister emphasized that in the coming period, in cooperation with UNICEF, the health system will pay special attention to the vaccination of children from MMR, and thus contribute to the protection and promotion of public health.

UNICEF sees this child rights issue as a top national priority, since a measles epidemic would seriously threaten Montenegro’s  public health. It would put Montenegro’s youngest children's lives at risk, especially newborns who cannot be vaccinated until they are 12 months old and who depend on other children being vaccinated for their protection. An outbreak during the global pandemic would challenge the capacity of the public health system to ensure the availability of timely, quality health services across the country, which would lead to a rise in severe health complications and deaths of both children and adults. The unexpected health expenses to families of sick children would lead to a rise in child poverty. All of this can be prevented through MMR immunization.

'National and local authorities, health workers and health institutions, parents, academia, media and local communities need to work together to explain that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, and that the MMR vaccine is safe. All parents want to choose the best for their children in any situation. When it comes to MMR, having a child immunized is thousands of times lower risk than letting the child contract this serious, deadly disease.' Juan Santander, UNICEF Representative in Montenegro stated.