Thailand has officially eliminated endemic rubella transmission, marking a major public health achievement that protects pregnant women and newborns from preventable complications and lifelong disabilities.
“Thailand has shown that rubella elimination is achievable when strong political commitment, resilient immunisation services, high-quality surveillance and community trust come together,” says Dr Nilesh Buddha, Officer-in-Charge of the WHO South-East Asia Region.
Thailand is the seventh country in the region to achieve rubella elimination, joining Bhutan, North Korea, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. Since launching its national immunisation programme in 1977, Thailand has steadily expanded vaccination coverage, introducing rubella vaccines for schoolgirls in 1986 and extending them to all one-year-old children in 1993. The achievement brings the region closer to eliminating both measles and rubella, while helping prevent miscarriages, stillbirths and congenital rubella syndrome.
