Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman’s national immunisation campaigns have led to a 63 per cent decrease in the number of viral Hepatitis cases recorded in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Data revealed by NCSI shows a total of 593 cases of Hepatitis were reported last year. Viral Hepatitis type A, which is the most common strain of the disease in the Sultanate, also witnessed a drop of more than half compared to 2017 figures.
“In 2018, 517 viral Hepatitis A cases were recorded with a decrease of 56 per cent compared to 2017,” the centre said.
Oman’s Ministry of Health has also managed to significantly reduce the number of measles cases in the Sultanate.
The Ministry’s annual report showed that 98 per cent of children in Oman are protected against polio with 97.5 per cent safe from tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Children are also vaccinated against Hepatitis B and Influenza with 96.9 per cent having had the MMR protection against measles, mumps, and rubella.
A nationwide campaign last year saw the number of measles cases drastically drop from 186 in 2016-2017 to 10 in 2018. All of the 10 reported cases in 2018 were treated and there was no local transmission of measles.
The Ministry has taken a number of measures to prevent future outbreaks in Oman, so as to achieve the elimination of measles and rubella by 2020. Vaccination is an important preventative measure to reduce the spread of viral disease and the ministry revealed that 97.2 per cent of Omani children living across the Sultanate who are below the age of five have had all their prescribed vaccine shots.
According to the Ministry: “All children, Omani and non-Omani should be vaccinated against the 12 preventable childhood diseases including measles free of charge.”
