Deadly measles outbreaks threaten Africa gains: WHO

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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64K2Y220100521

Deadly measles outbreaks threaten Africa gains: WHO

Reuters) - Large and deadly outbreaks of measles in 30 African countries threaten to reverse gains made against the viral disease in the past two decades, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Health

More than 1,100 deaths from measles have been reported among 64,000 known cases in Africa the last year, it said. Chad, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have had the largest outbreaks.

"There is a widespread resurgence of measles with these outbreaks in over 30 African countries, some of which are seeing very high case fatality ratios," WHO expert Peter Strebel told a news briefing.

Some 8,000 migrant children in Bulgaria also had the highly-contagious disease during the period, he said.

Measles deaths among children under five years old fell to 118,000 in 2008 from 733,000 in 2000, according to the United Nations agency's latest figures.

But the WHO warned that a lack of funding and political commitment could result in a return to more than 500,000 cases measles deaths per year by 2012, wiping out the gains to date...

 

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Re: Deadly measles outbreaks threaten Africa gains: WHO

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gvunSjoIuSsX5AuwdPOnlghcfGQw

Measles outbreak kills more than 700 in Africa

(AFP) ? 5 hours ago

ADDIS ABABA ? A recent measles outbreak in eastern and southern Africa has killed more than 700 people, threatening to reverse gains made over several years to stem the disease, the United Nations said on Friday.

"As of mid-June 2010, the outbreak has affected 47,907 children in 14 countries, resulting in 731 deaths. The most recent confirmed measles outbreaks were reported from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia," a statement said.

The worst-hit country is Zimbabwe with 517 reported deaths.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation warned the outbreak "has put recent gains in reducing mortality due to this highly contagious disease at risk of being reversed..."

 

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Re: Deadly measles outbreaks threaten Africa gains: WHO

Measles Outbreak in Africa Threatens Gains

<!-- Removed the byline section from editorials & rewards articles -->Lisa Schlein | Geneva <!-- VOA iNews -->10 July 2010

The Measles Initiative, a consortium of global healthcare organizations, warns a serious outbreak of measles in Sub-Saharan Africa is threatening all the gains made since 2000 in reducing deaths from this killer disease among children under five.

The United Nations reports nearly 90,000 cases of measles have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa since June 2009, including about 1,400 deaths.

The epidemic is most severe in the southern African countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa.

The Measles Initiative was created in 2001 to tackle the growing problem of the disease in Africa. The group says gaps in the implementation of measles control strategies resulting from a lack of funds has led to the dramatic increase in measles cases.

Andrea Gay is executive director of Children's Health at the UN Foundation, one of the partners of the Measles Initiative. She tells VOA in a phone interview from Washington the enormous progress Africa has made in cutting child deaths from measles is now at risk.

She says a major factor is the dramatic decline in funding. She notes GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, had been donating $150 million to the Measles Initiative, but, this dropped to a little over $20 million in 2008.

"The Measles Initiative was unable to provide the same level of resources to the country," said Gay. "We were asking countries to increase their share and many countries were not able to increase their share to the extent that was necessary to carry out a high quality campaign. One thing that can happen is the campaigns are not as good and then that means there are going to be more pockets of children that are not vaccinated and because measles is infectious, it will find those children and there will be an outbreak."

Measles is easily spread through coughing and sneezing. It can cause severe complications, including pneumonia and diarrhea and lead to death.

While money is a key factor, Gay says measles are easily preventable. To ensure protection, she says at least 90 percent of all children in a country need to be vaccinated through routine immunization.

"We are trying to get countries to improve their routine, their first dose of vaccine to reach more children, but, quite honestly even to do that, usually, it is a question of resources," she said.

However, Gay says money should not be a deterrent. She says it costs less than $1 to vaccinate a child against this killer disease. She says $59 million is needed this year to prevent a resurgence of measles deaths globally.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Measles-Outbreak-in-Africa-Threatens-Gains-98162044.html