Following a massive global vaccination campaign, the death of children due to measles has dropped by 60 percent, the World Health Organization announced Friday.

The study, which is published in the British medical journal The Lancet, estimates that the number of measles deaths fell from 873,000 in 1999 to 345,000 in 2005, due to increased immunization campaigns. The World Health Organization revealed that more than 360 million children aged 9 months to 15 years were vaccinated against measles during that period

Myanmar's military rulers on Monday unveiled a measles control strategic plan aimed at preventing the deaths of young children.

Under the program, an estimated seven million children under the age of five, will be vaccinated against measles throughout this year. At least 60,000 health workers have been tapped for the campaign which will be implemented in three phases

U.S. government officials revealed on Thursday that the measles outbreak that struck 34 people in Indiana and Illinois in 2005 - the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in a decade - has been traced back to a 17-year-old girl who had traveled to Romania without first getting vaccinated.

The outbreak was responsible for more than half of the 66 measles cases that occurred in the United States that year

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance to aid manufacturers in developing safe and effective cell-based viral vaccines.

The FDA said in a statement that its goal is to facilitate the development and availability of safe and effective vaccines, including those to address emerging and pandemic threats.

Acting Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., Food and Drug, said in the release, "The guidance document released today is a vital part of our overall efforts to help manufacturers develop new vaccines that are critical to meeting global public health needs

Health officials in the country revealed Tuesday that some 100 Filipino children go blind every week because of poor nutrition, sickness or as a result of premature births.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque made the revelation that close to half a million people in the Philippines are blind and 62 percent of the cases are due to cataracts