The Health Minister Mohamed Haitham Issa said that the ministry has formulated a plan to prevent the emergence of new cases of measles, through a vaccination campaign that will be launched urgently in cooperation with international organizations.

This came during a meeting held on Friday following a report released by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that indicated the emerging of several measles cases in different parts of the country.

"We will provide technical and logistical support to ensure the success of the campaign and will provide medical treatment to the cases registered," the minister stressed.

He also made an urgent appeal to all public and private hospitals and specialized centres to remain watchful for any new cases and raise the alert status; announcing the formation of a committee to monitor and investigate the cases that have been monitored.

The minister assured that the routine vaccinations are available in the Medical Supply Department stores, pointing out that more is to come after transmitting the minutes of the Tender Committee of the Presidential Council that was approved by the Audit Bureau to the Medical Supply Department for implementation which, in turn, will forward it to the Central Bank of Libya at the beginning of next week.

The NCDC had recorded 80 cases of measles in various Libyan cities after the contagion was passed on by a child from the illegal immigration shelters. 

The first case of infection was detected in the area of Qatrun before the emergence of other cases in the cities of Ubari, Zliten, and Marj, in addition to other areas.