AHO to tackle measles in Africa as the disease claims over 2500 lives in the DRC

A measles epidemic has caused more than 2,700 deaths between January and early August in the DRC, killing more people in seven months than Ebola in one year, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported in a tweet read on Saturday.

“The measles epidemic declared on June 10 is the deadliest that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has known since 2011-2012 Between January and early August 2019, it infected more than 145,000 people and resulted in 2,758 deaths” , according to the MSF–DRC tweet dated Friday.

“Despite the magnitude of the measles epidemic in the DRC, there is an alarming lack of actors and funds.With $ 2.5 million mobilized out of the $ 8.9 million required for the response plan, the contrast with the urgency #Ebola, which attracts hundreds of millions of dollars, is striking, “adds the humanitarian medical organization.

MSF says it is fighting the measles epidemic in 13 DRC provinces alongside local teams from the Congolese Ministry of Health. The measles epidemic is reported in 23 out of 26 provinces in the country, health authorities said in June.

“Since the beginning of the year, MSF has vaccinated 474,863 children and supported 27,439 patients,” reads again.

Measles affects mainly children from the age of 5-6 months and young adults.

The Ebola virus disease has totaled 1,905 deaths since its declaration on August 1, 2018, according to the latest assessment of the Congolese health authorities on Wednesday.

WHO warned that the measles epidemic was killing nearly as much as the other two epidemics combined: Ebola and cholera. The measles epidemic has claimed 1,981 lives, against 1,676 for Ebola and 279 for cholera.

AHO plans to vaccinate over 2 million children in 13 DRC provinces.

It will be guided by its Strategy and Plan of Action on immunization supported by AHO Vaccination Month.