Kathmandu, March 12 -- In a bid to contain outbreaks and deaths caused every year by the Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus, the Ministry of Health and Population will begin vaccinating the unvaccinated population of Nawalparasi East starting Friday.

Officials said that due to budget constraints, this vaccination drive will cover only people aged 35 years and above in the district.

"We have tried a lot to secure vaccine doses and a budget to immunise all susceptible populations," said Dr Abhiyan Gautam, chief of the Immunisation Section at the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services. "We had also made requests to aid agencies, but could not convince them. So we have managed funds from internal sources to vaccinate ...