Turkey helps Georgia in epidemic measles fight

By Duygu Yener

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey donated Georgia vaccines in an effort to fight the measles epidemic, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

A total of 100,000 doses of MMR vaccine (against measles, mumps, and rubella) was delivered to Georgia upon its request due to an outbreak in the country, the ministry said in a statement.

The transfer was carried out under cooperation deal signed on Feb 13.

Vaccines were transferred in a refrigerated trailer and truck. They were monitored live by Vaccine Tracking System inside Turkey, and all the data were recorded.

Upon receiving vaccines, Georgia’s Deputy Health Minister Zaza Bokhua thanked his Turkish counterpart Emine Alp Mese in a letter.

The letter noted that Turkey is the most important partner of Georgia in the region and thanked Ankara for reaching out in every emergency.

"We thank Turkey for meeting our need to measles vaccines due to an outbreak in an urgent manner," the statement read.

It also said that European countries have been greatly affected by the measles cases which gained a worldwide increase.

Some 82,500 people were affected by measles in Europe last year, according to the statement. The figure is 15 times higher than the 2016 figure.