Following an announcement this week made by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Americas Region has been officially declared as rubella free.  It is the first World Health Organization region to have accomplished the goal of eliminating endemic rubella within all of their countries.  This accomplishment is the culmination of 15 years of work administering the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines to all at risk populations.  With the addition of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome this marks the fourth vaccine preventable disease, including small pox and polio, to have been effectively eliminated from the region.  An accomplishment that the other regions are working hard towards replicating.

Read the Report HERE.