The World Health Organization has confirmed that Thailand has eliminated rubella as a public health problem. The country becomes the seventh in the South-East Asia region to do so, after Bhutan, North Korea, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.
Rubella is a disease that can cause miscarriages and serious birth defects when caught during pregnancy. Thailand began vaccinating girls against rubella in 1986 and, since 1993, has vaccinated all one-year-olds.
The Thai health minister, Pattana Promphat, pledged to maintain the gains and step up efforts to eliminate measles as well.
