MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Yefimova) - Measles may soon become the third infectious disease, after smallpox and poliomyelitis, to be fully eliminated in Russia, the country's chief doctor said in an interview Thursday.
Gennady Onishchenko said incidences of measles had gone down six times in 2005 on 2004, adding that Russia was following a program to get rid of measles by 2010 jointly with the World Health Organization.
"The objective foundation this work is being built upon gives us the right to say we will overcome this disease," he said. "We have national production of an effective vaccine, good medical personnel and scientific potential."
Onishchenko said the fight against measles and poliomyelitis would be discussed at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in July.
