NEWS
4 Obiter Dicta
Measles Outbreak
A Health Injustice for Congolese
jerico espinas › contributor
T
h e h u m a n i ta r i a n a i d organization,
Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), reports the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently fighting its largest measles epidemic
since 2011. This past year, MSF reported over 30,000
measles cases and over 320 deaths in the DRC, with
numbers steadily increasing due to a lackluster
response from local and international communities. After an August report on the dire state of the
epidemic by the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, the UN released $2.4 million
to support efforts. Despite the incidence reports, the
DRC has not yet formally recognized the presence of
an outbreak. Additionally, other humanitarian aid
organizations have failed to supply resources, such as
aid workers, despite pleas from multiple non-government organizations (NGOs).
MSF is still stationed in 10 of the 68 health districts in Katanga Province, the area most hit by the
epidemic, in order to assist local health authorities
with the outbreak. MSF has also dispatched workers
in the South Kivu, Equateur, and Maniema provinces
for additional support. MSF aims to prevent future
cases through a comprehensive vaccination campaign alongside a reactive effort to contain the epidemic by treating infected Congolese. The NGO has
currently vaccinated over 300,000 children, a large
but inadequate number when compared to the 2.1
million vaccinations it administered in 2011.
Measles can be successfully prevented with proper
vaccination. However, vaccines are not being effectively delivered to all communities in the DRC.
Rural villages face particular social and economic
barriers, increasing the disease’s impact on these
communities.
The measles
vaccine requires
cold conditions
and a follow-up
booster shot one
month after the
initial vaccination. The DRC’s hot climate prevents
the vaccine from being easily delivered to geographically-isolated communities, forcing most individuals
to travel to regional health centers. Rural villagers,
especially those located in deep forest regions, would
require time and money to make multiple journeys, expending scarce resources for preventative
m VF