Japanese encephalitis (JE), spread by infected mosquitoes, is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia. Myanmar is among Asia’s JE-endemic countries due to its ecological environment, including widespread rice farming, which is conducive to JE transmission.

PATH played a significant role in advocating for the introduction of the JE vaccine in Myanmar, providing support to the Ministry of Health and Sports to discuss opportunities for JE control. PATH provided technical assistance to Myanmar’s central Expanded Programme on Immunization (cEPI) in the country’s first immunization campaign against JE, and the subsequent integration of the JE vaccine into national routine immunization.

Myanmar’s nationwide immunization campaign against Japanese encephalitis reached more than 12 million children, covering 92.5 percent of the country.

PATH also extended its support to cEPI to conduct an evaluation of JE vaccine introduction in the first quarter of 2019.