South Sudan’s Ministry of Health and its health partners announced on Tuesday the launch of a nationwide campaign against measles.
The aim is to reach some 2.5 million children in the country. In addition to the vaccine, the children will also receive vitamin A supplement and deworming tablets.
South Sudan is still battling an unprecedented measles outbreak with over 4,700 confirmed cases and 26 deaths since January 2019 to date.
“We need to boost the vaccination coverage to protect children against measles outbreaks,” said Makur Matur Kariom, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health.
“Unfortunately, in South Sudan routine vaccination coverage against measles remains low at only 59 per cent. That means many children in our country are not protected against the disease. Hence the importance of this vaccination campaign cannot be over emphasized,” he added.
The campaign will run in two phases. The first phase started yesterday and will cover almost 70 percent of the counties in the former Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Warrap and Upper Nile, while the second phase will cover the remaining counties in Central Equatoria, Jonglei, Unity and upper Nile and end on 17 March 2020.
“The campaign will contribute to the reduction of illness and death due to measles. The measles virus is highly infectious. It can cause rashes, eye infection, respiratory infections, diarrhea and even death,” said Dr Olushayo Olu, WHO Representative in South Sudan.
“We are committed to support the Ministry of Health to attain over 95 per cent coverage to be able to interrupt the prevalence of this deadly disease virus in South Sudan,” he added.
Large proportions of the targeted populations are in hard to reach areas. Yet, the partners have planned for vaccination posts throughout the country, also in areas where access to health services is poorer.
“Every child has the same right to health and no child is too far,” said Dr. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, the UNICEF Representative in South Sudan.
“We know how important herd immunity is to fight measles and protect the most vulnerable people, that makes it even more important to reach the last child with this campaign. There is a lot of love in taking your children to the nearest vaccination post.”