WHO alerts to rising vaccine-preventable epidemics

Africa is witnessing a surge in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases over the past year, World Health Organisation (WHO) has disclosed.

At a virtual press conference, yesterday, the global agency said almost 17,500 cases of measles were recorded in the African region between January and March this year, translating to a 400 per cent increase when compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

It said 20 African nations reported the epidemic in the first quarter of 2022, eight mabove last year’s statistics.

In a statement, the organisation observed that outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases have become widespread.

Twenty-four countries confirmed outbreaks of a variant of polio in 2021, far beyond 2020 figures. In 2021, 13 nations reported new yellow fever occurrences in Africa, compared to the nine and three incidents in 2020 and 2019.

Inequalities in accessing vaccines, disruptions by COVID-19, including a huge strain on health system capacities, impaired routine immunisation services in many African countries and forced the suspension of vaccination.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said: “The rise in outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases is a warning sign. As Africa works hard to defeat COVID-19, we must not forget other health threats. Health systems could be severely strained not only by COVID-19, but (also) by other diseases.

“Vaccines are at the heart of a successful public health response, and as countries restore services, routine immunisation must be at the core of revived and resilient health systems.”

The virtual briefing was led by Director, Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases Cluster at WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr. Benido Impouma, and facilitated by APO Group.

He was joined by Dr. Kailash Jagutpal, Minister of Health and Wellness, Government of Mauritius, and Prof. Helen Rees, Executive Director, Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Also on hand from the WHO Regional Office for Africa to respond to questions were Dr. Thierno Balde, Regional COVID-19 Incident Manager; Dr. Messeret Shibeshi, Immunisation Officer; Dr. Richelot Ayangma Mouko, Medical Officer for Polio Eradication Programme and Dr. Mory Keita, Incident Manager for Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo.