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Bukavu/Cologne. A five-day vaccination campaign is currently taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to contain a measles epidemic which is putting more than a million children at risk. From 18 to 22 May, Malteser International’s teams are assisting the vaccination of more than 630,000 children between six months and 15 years of age in 11 health zones in the South Kivu prov-ince. Almost 1,200,000 children in 25 health zones must be vaccinated in the South Kivu province alone to prevent the further spread of the disease. Children under five years are most vulnerable to measles.
Malteser International, the relief service of the Order of Malta for worldwide humanitarian aid, is cooperating closely with the children’s relief organisation UNICEF, which is providing the vaccines, and with local health authorities. “We have 11 teams coordinating a total of 733 local teams which are going around the villages with megaphones to inform the population about the vaccination cam-paign”, reports Christof Ruhmich, programme coordinator for Malteser International in Bukavu. These teams have also hung posters informing about the importance of the vaccine in public places such as churches, mosques, schools and marketplaces. TV and radio spots also announce where and when the vaccination is taking place.
From Bukavu and its other field locations, Malteser International is distributing the vaccines to each health care unit in the 11 zones. “Maintaining the cold chain is especially important for the success of the campaign”, explains Ruhmich. “For that, we use decentralised, petrol-fuelled refrigerators and hundreds of mobile coolers.” The Malteser International teams have also prepared the local staff in the health care units for the vaccination campaign, and see to it that mothers bring their children for vaccination, that infected patients are treated professionally, and that cases of the disease are care-fully monitored.
The vaccination campaign, which is financed by the European Commission’s humanitarian aid de-partment (ECHO), is also taking place in four other provinces in DR Congo. Since September 2010, the measles epidemic has spread alarmingly through the country: according to the Congolese health department, until mid-April, 2,493 people in five provinces had been infected with measles in 2011 alone. Seven people have died from the disease thus far.
Measles, also known as rubeola in some English-speaking countries, is a highly contagious disease and can cause lung inflammation, malnutrition, severe dehydration, ear and eye inflammation which can lead to blindness. The mortality rate can vary greatly, depending on the context. Without proper vaccination, measles can kill up to 15 per cent of infected children. In particularly susceptible groups, such as migrating or undernourished people, the mortality rate can rise to up to 25 per cent, if those infected have restricted access to health care. That is the case in many areas in DR Congo.
Attention Editors: Christof Ruhmich, programme coordinator for Malteser International in Bukavu, is available for in-terviews. Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 (0) 221 98 22-155
Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitar-ian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without dis-tinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.org
