Sri Lanka begins vaccination campaign as epidemics rise in refugee camps

(Aug.04,2009): In Sri Lanka, the Health Ministry and the UNICEF on Monday, launched a three-day immunisation campaign to vaccinate against measles and polio, more than 40,000 internally displaced children living in refugee camps in the Wanni area.
Dr.Athula Kahandaliyanage explained that this special vaccination programme will be carried out to contain the spread of measles, after sporadic cases were reported among internally displaced people in the past few months. Medical staff will carry out the vaccination in 30 health centres in Vavuniya with the help of about 1,200 volunteers. Once the operation is completed in Wanni they will move to Jaffna and Trincomalee districts for the next phase.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) had released a report end July, saying that sanitary conditions in Tamil refugee camps have worsened. “Many are overcrowded, some holding twice the number recommended by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,” the report said. According to the UN, there is a shortage of latrines, and access to water is inconsistent, causing hygiene problems.