The prince made this request during the inauguration of the national immunization campaign, which will launch throughout the Kingdom. The education minister and Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah jointly launched the campaign at the Health Ministry headquarters in Riyadh on Sunday.

Prince Faisal also requested all employees of his ministry to cooperate and fulfill their responsibilities in the implementation of the campaign.

Prince Faisal pointed out that his ministry has made unremitting efforts to safeguard the health and safety of students.

“It has been working on the implementation of numerous health programs, in cooperation with the relevant authorities,” he added. He also called upon all parents to contribute to and interact with this campaign, in an endeavor to make it a success and achieve its objectives.

He also thanked the Health Ministry headed by Al-Rabeeah for effectively planning the program for the next five weeks. “Our mission is to build a healthy generation with people’s cooperation.”

The health minister explained that this week would be solely devoted to raise awareness on the importance of safeguarding the young generation from the diseases. The immunization program will begin next week, he added.

Al-Rabeeah said the Kingdom was declared free of polio by the World Health Organization because of its successful campaign against the disease. “We welcome similar support to carry out this campaign,” he added.

He said incidence of measles, rubella and mumps were minimal in the Kingdom. “Only 300 cases are reported annually, and this can be fully wiped out with an organized campaign against the diseases.”

The vaccines will be given to those aged nine months to 24 years. The campaign will continue for five weeks. The vaccine will be given in two phases and the second phase will begin on Dec. 3.

The Health Ministry’s program is being carried out in cooperation with the ministries of Education and Higher Education. Students from government, private and community schools at primary, middle and secondary levels will be covered under this program.

The ministry said babies below nine months do not need the vaccine as they derive immunity against measles from birth.

Children who have high fever could postpone their vaccination to a later date while those who suffer from immune deficiency diseases such as HIV or similar congenital diseases and who are allergic to vaccines should avoid this vaccination.

There is no harm in repeating the vaccine if a person had taken it earlier, a ministry statement said.

Measles is an acute viral contagious disease accompanied with fever, conjunctivitis, cough and red skin ulcers starting on the face and covering all parts of the body from the third to seventh day of infection. Other common complications are middle ear inflammation, pneumonia, broncholaryngitis, diarrhea and encephalitis.

There is no specific antiviral therapy for measles and the basic treatment is necessary supportive therapy such as hydration and antipyretics.