WHO Warns Of Rising Vaccine-Preventable Epidemics

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has disclosed in a statement that as of this moment, Africa has and is still witnessing a surge in the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases over the past year. During a virtual press conference, WHO stated that almost 17,500 cases of measles were recorded within the African region between January and March of 2022, which is a 400 per cent increase as compared to 2021.

WHO has said that 20 African nations, 8 more than the previous year’s statistics, had reported the epidemic in the first quarter of 2022. The organisation had observed that outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases have now become widespread.

24 countries had confirmed outbreaks of a variant of polio variant in 2021 which were far beyond 2020 figures. In 2021, 13 nations had reported occurrences of new yellow fever in Africa, as compared to the nine and three incidents in 2020 and 2019. The inequalities in gaining access to vaccines, disruptions caused by COVID-19, including a huge strain on the health system capacities, impaired routine immunisation services in many African countries and forced the suspension of vaccination.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, has 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 Dr. Benido Impouma, Director of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases Cluster at WHO Regional Office for Africa, 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, the Regional COVID-19 Incident Manager; Dr. Messeret Shibeshi, the Immunisation Officer; Dr. Richelot Ayangma Mouko, Medical Officer for the Polio Eradication Programme and Dr. Mory Keita, the Incident Manager for the Ebola outbreak response in the Democratic Republic of Congo.