The World Health Organization today announced that Thailand has been verified for eliminating rubella as a public health problem, marking a major milestone in the country’s efforts to protect children, women and families from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Rubella, also known as German measles, is a contagious viral infection. Rubella infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth or congenital rubella syndrome, a condition associated with lifelong birth defects. Rubella can be prevented through safe, effective and affordable vaccines.
“Thailand has shown that rubella elimination is achievable when strong political commitment, resilient immunization services, high-quality surveillance and community trust come together. This achievement protects future generations from congenital rubella syndrome and brings the Region closer to eliminating both measles and rubella,” said Dr Nilesh Buddha, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia Region, endorsing the recommendation of the Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination in the South-East Asia Region (SEA-RVC).
The SEA-RVC, which held its annual meeting from 22–23 June 2026, reviewed evidence submitted by Thailand’s National Verification Committee, including data on disease surveillance, molecular epidemiology, immunization coverage, outbreak response and programme performance. This was followed by a verification field visit in July 2026 and the Commission recommended that Thailand be verified for endemic rubella elimination.
Thailand is now the seventh country in the WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve rubella elimination, joining Bhutan, DPR Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. Four countries in the Region - Bhutan, DPR Korea, Maldives and Timor-Leste - have eliminated both measles and rubella.
“This verification is a proud moment for Thailand and a tribute to decades of commitment by our health workers, volunteers, partners and communities. By eliminating rubella, Thailand has protected newborns from preventable lifelong disabilities and reaffirmed its commitment to equitable health services for every child and family. We will sustain this gain and intensify efforts towards measles elimination,” said H.E. Mr Pattana Promphat, Minister of Public Health, Thailand.
Thailand’s Expanded Programme on Immunization was started in 1977 and introduced rubella-containing vaccine into its national immunization programme for girls aged six years in Primary school. in 1986 and expanded it to all children aged one year in 1993. Since then, the country has been strengthening routine immunisation, outbreak response and surveillance systems, supported by strong collaboration between national and subnational health authorities.
The programme emphasized reaching underserved and mobile populations, rapidly investigating suspected measles and rubella cases through fever and rash surveillance, and maintaining laboratory-supported surveillance to detect and respond to any virus transmission.
Verification confirms that Thailand has met the requisite criteria for interruption of endemic rubella virus transmission and has systems in place to sustain this achievement.
“Thailand’s achievement in rubella elimination is an important milestone and reflects many years of commitment and sustained effort. WHO is honoured to have worked alongside Thailand throughout this journey and looks forward to continuing close collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and partners to accelerate progress towards measles elimination, while building on this experience to strengthen health systems and advance Thailand’s regional and global health leadership,” said Dr Ailan Li, WHO Representative to Thailand.