Since October 2023, 19,515 cases of measles and 107 deaths linked to the virus have been recorded in Morocco, a rate of approximately 52.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In Parliament, the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tahraoui, is questioned about the measures taken in the face of the epidemic
Majida Chahid, USFP MP, questioned the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Amine Tehraoui, about the continued spread of measles among students in schools in the north and the rest of Morocco.
She called on the minister, who should respond in detail on the matter, to reveal the measures and procedures that have been taken at the level of public hospitals and urban and rural health centers to deal with the spread of measles in the educational establishments.
Earlier, Amine Tahraoui revealed alarming figures concerning the number of cases and deaths due to measles disease in Morocco since October 2023, the date of the epidemic which began in the Souss-Massa region.
Since October 2023, 19,515 cases of measles and 107 deaths linked to the virus have been recorded in Morocco, a rate of approximately 52.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the minister.
In 2024 alone, 17,999 cumulative cases (5,094 confirmed) and 104 deaths were reported in Morocco’s 12 regions until December 13, 2024. Children under 12 account for almost half of the deaths.
Two doses at ages nine and 18 months
Tahraoui attributes the epidemic to the drop in vaccination coverage, generally observed since the Covid 19 health crisis in 2020, as well as to vaccination hesitancy. This coverage fell to 75% in remote regions of the country while it was maintained at more than 95% in the country, medical sources assure.
In this regard, it is recalled the need to guarantee the administration of the doses required for measles (at the age of nine and eighteen months), indicate the same sources, emphasizing the imperative of administering two doses of vaccine to children not yet vaccinated while supplementing the doses for those who have only received one.
In a press release released in March 2023, under the mandate of Khalid Ait Taleb, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection warned of an increase in the number of measles cases in Morocco. This increase in recorded cases was, according to the same source, noted in a global context marked by a strong spread of measles cases across the world.
What about the vaccination campaign?
At the national level, the ministry then specified, a significant increase in the number of measles cases has been observed since mid-September 2023, particularly in the Souss-Massa region. Faced with this, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, through its regional and local services, had taken a series of measures on the ground by strengthening epidemiological surveillance activities and launching vaccination campaigns, which made it possible to contain the speed of propagation. This led to a concentration of cases recorded in the regions of Taroudant and Chichaoua.
Epidemiological investigations in the field had confirmed that the decline in vaccination rates in certain communities is the source of the increase in measles cases, contributing to the spread of the virus and the appearance of disease outbreaks.
The ministry thus recalled that vaccination is the means “most effective” to prevent many infectious diseases, including measles. He therefore urges parents to respect the vaccination schedule approved as part of the national immunization program, which includes two doses against measles in the ninth and eighteenth months.
The ministry also recommended going to the nearest health facility if symptoms of the disease (rash with fever) appear to receive appropriate treatment and avoid complications.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection therefore announced the deployment of an extensive national campaign to strengthen vaccination against measles, “which is part of its proactive policy aimed at limiting the spread of epidemics and strengthening the response”.
This initiative aimed, added the ministry, to restore the levels of vaccination of children to the levels observed before the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a drop in vaccination coverage rates in most regions and provinces of the Kingdom, explained the ministry in a press release.
It remains to be known the details of this vaccination catch-up campaign aimed at filling the immune gaps observed in children under 18 years of age: under 5s, 5-18 year olds in school and non-schoolers under 18.
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