Fourth meeting of the WHO South-East Asia Regional Verification Commission for measles elimination and rubella/congenital rubella syndrome control

Overview

The Regional Verification Commission for measles elimination and rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) control for the South-East Asia Region (SEA-RVC) was established by the Regional Director in March 2016 to verify progress towards measles elimination and rubella/CRS control in the Region. The Fourth meeting of the SEA-RVC was held in Kathmandu, Nepal during 23–25 April 2019.

The key objective of the meeting was to review the country progress reports on measles elimination and rubella/CRS control submitted by national verification committees (NVCs) and verify the progress made.

The methodology for review of individual country progress reports was based on the guidelines for the verification of measles elimination and rubella/CRS control in the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region endorsed by the SEA-RVC during its first meeting in 2016.

Following an extensive review of evidence, SEA-RVC verified Sri Lanka as having eliminated endemic measles and Bhutan, Maldives, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Timor-Leste as having sustained their measles elimination status. The Commission also reviewed the progress made towards rubella and CRS control, verifying that control of rubella and CRS in six countries had been maintained (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste). The SEA-RVC categorized the remaining countries in the Region as endemic for both measles and rubella virus transmission.

SEA-RVC acknowledged the significant progress made by all countries in the Region towards measles elimination and rubella/CRS control and requested World Health Organization (WHO), NVCs and Member States to provide some additional country-specific information at the next meeting to ensure better review of progress towards achieving the 2020 goal of measles elimination and rubella/CRS control in the SEA Region.