The UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF) and the World Health Organization on Tuesday launched a campaign to provide 134 million children in India with a second does of a vaccination against measles, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters here.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that is caused by a virus and spreads through contact with droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of an infected person. According to the UN, the illness claims the lives of around 400 million children per day. In 2008, three out of four children who died of measles were from India.

"The campaign now under way in 14 high-risk Indian states aims to prevent up to 100,000 child deaths annually," said the spokesman.

Children not vaccinated are at risk of the disease and its severe health complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis.

India introduced two-dose measles vaccinations a year ago, in line with advice on immunization from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), the principal advisory body to WHO, which recommends all children should receive two doses of measles vaccination.

Between 2000 and 2007 two-dose vaccinations were reported to have averted around 3.4 million measles deaths worldwide.