Support to Measles Vaccination Campaign in North Eastern Governorates of Syria There is a high risk of disease outbreak in Syria, due to a conflict that has severely damaged the country’s health infrastructure and sharply reduced service provision. Compounding these issues are disruptions in routine vaccinations, overcrowded living areas due to internal displacement, damaged water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as the lack of waste management in most of the Northern governorates in Syria. It is in this context that in October 2013, the first wild poliovirus case in 15 years was confirmed by the Syrian Arab Republic’s Ministry of Health (MoH) in Deir Ezzor . Similarly Measles cases have been reported in most of the governorates. In response, the WHO in Damascus along with the Syrian MoH launched a nationwide, house-to-house vaccination campaign across Syria in late October 2013. However, independent monitoring carried out by an INGO established that the Syrian MoH in Damascus did not have enough access in opposition controlled areas to provide health facilities with the gt90% coverage rate required for the mass campaign to halt polio transmission. To fill that gap in the opposition controlled and contested areas, the UN and International NGOs have launch various vaccination campaigns from Turkey. Although Polio campaigns have continued, Measles campaigns had come to the hold after 16 September 2014, where in an unfortunate incident 15 children died and a dozen others were left in a serious condition after they were vaccinated against measles in Marat Noman district of Idlib on the 1st day of the 2nd phase of the measles vaccination campaign. 

After the long suspension of the measles campaign, Syrian Immunization Task Force and other implementing partners agreed to restart the vaccination campaign as of March 2016. Measles vaccines are still available in Syria. WHO in coordination with Qatar Red Crescent carried out quality assurance check on the vaccines and confirmed on the good condition of the vaccines. 
 
Under this action, International Medical Corps UK (IMC UK) will support the Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) to carry out vaccination campaign in Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and Eastern Aleppo. ACU will be the main implementing partner to mobilize communities and personnel for this vaccination campaign targeted to take place between last week of March and beginning of  April. It is expected that 641,459 boys and girls will be vaccinated under this planned activity. The activities will include training of master trainers which will be held in Turkey. The Master trainers will deliver a follow on training to the field site supervisors who would train all other vaccination team on the ground. In the Eastern Governorates, the vaccination will take place on facility based in compare to Idleb where vaccination it carried out on door to door basis. 

IMC UK will work together with Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) to carry out independent monitoring of the measles campaign in the eastern governorates. While both of the parties recognize the challenge of monitoring activities in the eastern governorates, IMC UK and QRC will review the monitoring methodology and tools to ensure that minimum monitoring of activities take place during the campaigns. A full monitoring report will be produced and made available to all the the parties taking part in the campaign.