The Lions Club International, in association with the Unicef, will soon launch a $ 200 million project to eliminate measles in India by the year 2010.

The Lions Club International recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New York with the Unicef and would work out the details of the project with the new Union Government once the parliament election process was over, according to Ashok Mehta, vice president, International Association of Lions Clubs.

The Lions Club would conduct awareness camps about the causes and prevention of Rubella, besides vaccination camps for adolescent girls and pregnant women. It would work out the protocols and other modalities with the Indian Government to implement the programmes, involving the network of primary healthcare centres and other Government healthcare facilities across the country.

German measles, also known as Rubella leads to deafness, blindness, cardiac problems and mental retardation. WHO has estimated that rubella was the main cause for 50 per cent of deafness in children, Ashok Mehtha told a press gathering in Chennai, last week.

He also said a sum of Rs 500 crore have been earmarked for India by the Lions International to conduct various projects in the country for the next five years, including cataract surgeries, setting up of advanced treatment centres to cure diabetic retinopathy, child welfare programmes etc.