13 February 2020, Kathmandu
Ncell Private Limited, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) & UNICEF, is supporting the government for the National Measles-Rubella (MR) Campaign 2020. Under this much-anticipated campaign, the government aims to immunize over 30 lakhs children across the country between the age of 9 months to 5 years.
Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services is implementing the MR mass immunisation campaign in two phases. The first phase started today in Province 1, 2 and 5 which will remain in place until 13th March 2020. Likewise, the 2nd phase of the campaign will start from 14 March in Provinces Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali, and Sudur Paschim and will remain in place till April 12, 2020.
“We are glad that Ncell has supported the government for this campaign targeted to immunize over 3 million children to achieve 100 percent success. We are grateful for the support and expect similar support in the future as well,” said Dr.Jhalak Sharma Gautam, chief of Child Health and Immunisation Service Section at the Family Welfare Division.
Andy Chong, CEO of Ncell said, “Ncell is privileged to collaborate with Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on National Measles-Rubella (MR) Campaign to spread the message on the importance of immunization, which is a national health priority. Healthcare is a vital aspect of our Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Ncell has a greater responsibility as a corporate leader, and we are honoured to be given this opportunity to be driving such an initiative.”
The government’s statistics indicate that cases of MR outbreak are increasing at an alarming rate post-2015. Statistics by Nepal Demographic Health Survey state that the percentage of children aged 12- 23 months old who received all essential vaccines fell from 87 percent in 2011 to 78 percent in 2016.
This collaboration of Ncell with the government for this noble cause will contribute towards supporting the government to reduce the number of death and disability in children and meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of eliminating MR by 2023. Instances have shown that Measles can cause severe complications, including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infection, and pneumonia, while Rubella causes irreversible congenital disabilities.
Ncell, as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MoHP and National Health Education and Communication Centre (NHEICC) in 2019 as an exclusive awareness partner for supporting the government to raise health awareness across the country. Previously in October 2019, Ncell had promoted the government in broadcasting Dengue awareness messaging across the country via multiple channels of communication.