AKIPRESS.COM - Representatives of the Mongolian Ministry of Health and Sports, the National Center for Communicable Diseases, and the National Center for Maternal and Children’s Health held a press conference at the weekend, stating that 59 children died from measles in the country in 2016, reports The UB Post.

Earlier, some social media said that 918 children have died so far because of measles year-to-date.

"We have completed the Millennium Development Goal to decrease the mortality of children under five four times in recent years. Mongolia has been listed as one of nine countries to successfully implement the UN’s Millennium Development Goals," State Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Sports Sambuu Lambaa said. He added that mortality of children under one stood at 63.4 per 1,000 in 1990, and decreased to 15.3 in 2015.

Deputy Prime Minister Tserendash Oyunbaatar said that 491 children under five died in the first three months of 2016. He said the information that 918 children under five died from measles is inaccurate.

"In the first three months of 2016, 491 children under five have died, 427 of which were children under one. Child mortality has increased by 120 compared to last year," he said. 76.2 percent of the total number of children who died from measles were zero to eight months old and were not vaccinated; 70 percent were children diagnosed with comorbidity due to chronic diseases, rachitis, malnutrition, anemia, immune system disorders, and leukemia; 96.8 percent had pneumonia at the time they contracted measles; and 3.2 percent had laryngitis.