PHOTO: Madam Sumor Flomo, head of the surveillance team
By Garmah Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Following the recent outbreak of Measles in Liberia, the National Public Health Institute (NPHIL) is said to have taken urgent measures to curtail the disease.
Seventy-nine deaths have so far been recorded in fifteen counties.
The epicenter of the disease outbreak include Montserrado, Bong, Nimba and Grand Bassa.
Vaccines are being taken from door to door in order to reduce the long distance of some of the affected areas as well as hard-to-reach counties. Another aim is to reduce high transportation costs which is a major obstacle in the vaccination efforts.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every 2–3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.”
In addition, the National Public Health Institute has embarked on a nation-wide campaign to create awareness and sensitization on vaccination against measles.
The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) division of the Ministry of Health says it is also involved in the vaccination campaign to curb the spread of the epidemic.
So far, 109,268 children out of a target of 260,438 have been vaccinated based on figures released by the Health Ministry.
According to Madam Sumor Flomo, head of the surveillance team, 281,369 children were vaccinated out of the targeted 313,817 children during the second phase of the vaccination campaign. The vaccination points have been increased so as to tackle the epidemic effectively. This report was done in collaboration West African Solutions Journalism Hub