Angola President, José Eduardo dos Santos
Yellow Fever has killed 400 people in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, as the World Health Organisation, WHO, begins mass vaccination to arrest the outbreak of the disease in the two countries.
The WHO is carrying out one of the largest emergency vaccination campaigns ever attempted in Africa in Angola and the DRC in conjunction with other partners in a bid to arrest the outbreak of the disease that has killed more than 400 people and sickened thousands more.
Working with Ministries of Health in the two countries, WHO is coordinating 56 global partners to vaccinate more than 14 million people against yellow fever in more than 8,000 locations. The yellow fever outbreak has found its way to dense, urban areas and hard-to-reach border regions, making planning for the vaccination campaign especially complex.
A release from WHO said emergency yellow fever vaccination campaigns have already reached more than 13 million people in Angola and more than 3 million in DRC, saying that the campaigns have been crucial to stopping the spread of the outbreak.
“Some areas are still considered at high risk and so preventive vaccination campaigns are planned for the capital city of Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of the Congo and along the country’s border with Angola, which spans 2646 km. The preventive vaccination campaign aims to build protection in the population perceived to be at high risk of getting infected and prevent potential spread and expansion of the current outbreak.
“Kinshasa has more than 10 million people, with only 2 million already vaccinated against yellow fever. With local transmission of the virus and low immunity in the population, there is a potential risk that the deadly outbreak could spread to other urban areas.
“With limited supplies of the vaccine, and a 6-month minimum manufacturing process, …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
