Measles mass vaccination campaign for children from 6 months to 15 years of age in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo
MSF teams are carrying out mass measles vaccination campaigns in Katanga, DRC
© François Dumont/MSF
After treating several cases of measles in May, MSF became concerned about the possibility of a larger outbreak and launched a mass vaccination campaign to prevent unnecessary deaths from the disease. The scope of the campaign – targeting more than half a million children – is possible thanks to a long-awaited peace in the vast south-eastern region of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where for many years violence caused havoc. This is not the case in the province of North Kivu, where ongoing fighting creates enormous barriers to access to health care for the most vulnerable.
In Katanga, in addition to the general population, MSF provides care to many families who have returned from refugee camps in Zambia. In exploratory missions the teams have come across new villages full of families building new lives in a place they fled during the war that drained the country’s lifeblood from 1998 to 2002 and, according to IRC, caused the deaths of nearly 5.4 million people. With their few belongings, returnees like those in the village of Kitula in Moba seek to re-establish their lives, telling their children that they must forget in order to move forward.
Headmaster Lumbwe Kalinde explains that in Kitula two children recently died of malaria simply because they had no access to health care. In such circumstances a measles epidemic could have devastating consequences, and vaccination is absolutely critical. In Kitula MSF teams have vaccinated around 800 children between six months and fifteen years of age against measles. The immunisation remains effective for five years.
Malaria, cholera and measles are ongoing threats for people in this neglected part of the world, with little infrastructure and limited means to fight an epidemic. The lack of access to emergency health care is still very real, even in times of peace.
In villages like Kitula, MSF teams returns to vaccinate any children who failed to come to the vaccination the first time. They also seize the opportunity to check the nutritional health of the children using a simple middle, upper-arm circumference measurement. Those suffering from severe acute malnutrition, but who do not need to be admitted to hospital are given therapeutic milk and food. Others are referred to Moba hospital, where MSF has supported the opening of a treatment centre for malnourished children.
Teams are working hard to complete the vaccination before the onset of the rainy season. Two experienced nurses coordinate teams of local nurses, doctors and awareness-raising officers, as well as logisticians and drivers. The most recent figures suggest that that the number of children vaccinated in the Moba area will almost certainly exceed estimates, reaching more than 120,000 before the campaign concludes. As Vicky, the MSF coordinator, says, “in times of war, a vaccination campaign like this one would have been nearly impossible in Katanga.”
A total of 267 MSF staff members are working on the vaccination campaign in Katanga. To date, 273,655 children under fifteen have been vaccinated. The goal is to reach more than half a million children. Vaccination is being conducted in Kiambi, Manono, Kabalo, Ankoro, Moba, Kalemie, Nyunzu, Nyemba, Kansimba and Kilwa. MSF has also treated 3,650 children with measles.
by Javier Sancho