By Asmau Ahmad
Several African countries could experience an outbreak of measles amid stalled vaccination against the viral disease linked to COVID-19 disruptions, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said.
The official, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa said this in a statement ahead of the African Immunisation week slated for April 24 to 30.
Moeti said that countries that had delayed measles immunisation in the continent could experience a resurgence of the disease among young children.
“Recent outbreaks of measles, but also yellow fever, cholera and meningitis all point to worrying gaps in immunization coverage and surveillance in Africa,” she said.
Statistics from WHO indicate that 15 African countries postponed immunization drives against measles in 2020 to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moeti said that an estimated 16.6 million African children missed supplemental measles vaccine doses from January 2020 to April 2021 while eight countries in the continent reported a major outbreak of the disease during the same period.
She said delayed vaccination campaigns fuelled the outbreaks, adding that the quality of measles surveillance in Africa fell to its lowest level in 2020, with only eleven countries meeting their target.
Moeti said that it required at least 95 percent Immunisation coverage in a given population to avert a measles outbreak while administering the first dose of the measles-containing vaccine had stagnated around 69 per cent in Africa since 2013 and only seven countries achieved the 95 per cent coverage in 2019.
She said the low measles Immunisation coverage in Africa reflected in other vaccine-preventable diseases such as tetanus, yellow fever, and diphtheria amid pandemic-linked disruptions.
“As we fight COVID-19, we cannot leave anyone dangerously exposed to preventable diseases. I urge countries to double down on essential health services, including life-saving vaccination campaigns,” said Moeti.
She added that WHO had partnered with African countries to ensure that routine immunisation against childhood ailments was sustained during the pandemic through enhanced surveillance, training of healthcare workers, and community engagement.
