Donates 30,000 Measles Vaccine to Maldives
AMN / NEW DELHI / MALE
India on Thursday supplied 30,000 doses of Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine to the Maldives responding swiftly to an emergency request to contain the measles outbreak in the Maldives.
The vaccine supply was quickly procured and delivered to Maldives Health Ministry within 72 hours of the request.
Health Minister Abdulla Ameen presented a certificate of appreciation to Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir, to thank the Government of India for this gesture of goodwill and solidarity.
Four people were tested positive for Measles in last one week even though it has been eliminated from the country. Maldives Government had suspected an outbreak and requested emergency supplies of vaccine, which could not be made possible by a few international organizations.
Indian High Commission in the Maldives said, India’s swift response emphasized the mutually supportive roles of India’s neighborhood First Policy and Maldives’ India First Policy, acting for the benefit of people in both countries. It said, India has once again proved to be the first responder in times of emergency for the Maldives Government.
In 2015, India responded to the water crisis in Malé and airlifted water immediately and also sent supplies by ship, including an RO plant.
Similarly, India sent immediate assistance on 26th December 2004 when the tsunami struck the Maldives and other countries of the region. Both neighbors have also started the implementation of MoU on Health Cooperation signed during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2019.