India sends 30,000 doses of measles shots to Maldives

Responding to an emergency requirement in the Maldives, India supplied 30,000 doses of measles/rubella vaccine to Male. While measles has been eliminated from the Maldives, four cases have tested positive in the last week and the local government suspects an outbreak.

Male had initially approached Denmark and Unicef for the vaccine, but both apparently said they would require at least four weeks to arrange and supply it. It was then that the Maldives government approached the Indian embassy on January 20.

“The MEA, working closely with the ministry of health, procured supply of 30,000 doses of measles/rubella vaccine from Serum Institute of India, Pune, and delivered the consignment on January 23. This will meet the immediate requirement,’’ an official source said here, adding that India again proved to be the first responder in an emergency for Maldives.

The government later said that India’s swift response underlined that health remained one of the strongest pillars of bilateral cooperation. “This gesture also emphasises the mutually supportive roles of India’s Neighbourhood First policy and the Maldives’s India First policy, acting for the benefit of our people,’’ it said.