BRAZAVIL
Africa is facing an explosion of preventable diseases due to delays in vaccinating children, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on April 28, with measles cases jumping 400 percent.
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Twenty African countries reported outbreaks of measles in the first quarter of this year, eight more than in the first three months of 2021.
The African region registered almost 17,500 cases of highly contagious virus between January and March.
The WHO and the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) said in Geneva on Wednesday that measles cases had risen by nearly 80 percent worldwide this year, warning that an increase in the “canary in the coal mine” indicates a possible outbreak. other diseases.
Most of the outbreaks were in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa said outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases have also become more common on the continent.
About 24 African countries have confirmed epidemics due to a polio variant in 2021 – four more than in the previous year. Thirteen countries had yellow fever epidemics last year, up from nine in 2020 and three in 2019.
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“Inequalities in access to vaccines, disruptions to the Covid-19 pandemic, including a huge burden on health system capacity, disrupted routine immunization services in many African countries and forced the suspension of vaccination initiatives,” the WHO said.
“The increase in outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases is a warning sign,” said WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moetti at an online briefing.
“As Africa works hard to beat Covid-19, we must not forget other health threats,” she added.
The measles virus mainly attacks children with the most serious complications, including blindness, swelling of the brain, diarrhea and severe respiratory infections.
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