The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said measles has already killed 5,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, many of them young children, reported Reuters.
“Since the start of 2019, more than 250,000 suspected (measles) cases and over 5,000 deaths mostly among children under 5 years, have been recorded,” the WHO said in a statement.
The international health body said low immunisation rates and high levels of malnutrition have fuelled the epidemic and high mortality rates, especially in DRC’s North Kivu province, which is also facing an Ebola epidemic. The world’s second-biggest Ebola outbreak has on record has killed more than 2,200 people in DRC since mid-2018.
The measles outbreak has spread to all the provinces in DRC. In September, the WHO in collaboration with the Congolese government had launched an emergency vaccination programme that aimed to inoculate more than 800,000 children.
The WHO said it has planned a third phase of the vaccination campaign with the ultimate aim of reaching 18.9 million children across the country by year-end.
“While the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has won the world’s attention and progress is being made in saving lives, we must not forget the other urgent health needs the country faces,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
But violence and insecurity, lack of access to healthcare and vaccine and medical kit shortages have rendered thousands of children unprotected in the worst-affected areas and hindered efforts to stop the deadly disease from spreading.
Vaccination is most challenging in North Kivu, where 2.2 million people are to be vaccinated, because of high insecurity following armed attacks that make some areas inaccessible to aid workers, WHO said.
According to estimates from the WHO and the United States Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 140,000 people died from measles in 2018 worldwide.
