Vaccines Did the Trick: Goodbye, Rubella

Following years of dedicated efforts, Singapore successfully eliminated rubella, an airborne virus, through the administration of effective and inexpensive vaccines.

“We are very pleased to be verified by the Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination for the Western Pacific to have met the criteria for rubella elimination,” states Professor Vernon Lee, Senior Director, Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Health, Singapore. “We will continue to maintain our efforts in the prevention and control of rubella through a robust immunization program, disease surveillance, and swift response.”

The viral infection affects mainly children and young adults, and despite the lack of specific treatment to cure rubella, the illness is preventable through the administration of vaccines. Pregnant women who contract the disease are likely to have children with birth defects. In 2018, after attaining its measles elimination status, Singapore focused on rubella and the Asian nation managed to not only interrupt the transmission of the virus in 2019 but maintain this feat. Singapore is the latest country in the Western Pacific Region to interrupt the endemic transmission of the virus that causes rubella after Australia, Brunei, Darussalam, Hong Kong SAR (China), Macao SAR (China), New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea.