The deputy chief of staff of the Ministry of Health, public hygiene and universal health coverage, Professor Soro Kountélé Gona, announced this Monday, October 14, 2024, a vaccination campaign against measles and rubella, from October 18 to October 24, 2024.
This vaccination campaign, which will be held in the 113 health districts of the country, targets 6,846,061 children aged 9 to 59 months, throughout the country, said Professor Soro Gona, during a press conference, in the premises of the ministry, in Abidjan.
Measles and rubella, two highly contagious infectious diseases, remain a major public health challenge in Côte d’Ivoire. They are mainly transmitted through the air and can cause serious complications.
For measles, these are blindness, deafness and neurological complications (encephalitis) and death if not treated quickly. As for rubella, it can cause fetal death or congenital malformations.
Côte d’Ivoire joined the global initiative to eliminate measles in 2021. In this context, a national campaign to monitor vaccination against measles and rubella was organized in September 2021.
This campaign made it possible to vaccinate 5,967,964 children aged 9 months to 5 years, with vaccination coverage of 95.51%. Also, in 2021, the country introduced a second dose of measles-rubella vaccine into the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).
“From 2022 to February 2024, we have 4,465 confirmed cases of measles, with 182 epidemic outbreaks,” said Professor Soro Kountélé Gona, stressing that San-Pedro is “among the most affected departments”.
“Faced with this alarming situation, it is crucial to quickly strengthen our children’s immunity against these two diseases. This is why, in collaboration with technical and financial partners, the ministry is initiating this campaign, he explained.
The official launch ceremony of this vaccination campaign will be held on Wednesday October 16, 2024, at Place ADO, in the Bardo district of San-Pedro (Southwest Ivory Coast), in the San-Pedro Health District.
According to epidemiological surveillance data, the western region of Côte d’Ivoire is the site of numerous measles epidemic outbreaks and its health districts do not have good vaccination coverage.
The active participation of all parents, childcare workers, professionals in the sector, administrative authorities, community leaders and religious people is essential for the success of this vaccination campaign, he said.
“Vaccination stations (fixed stations) will be installed in neighborhoods, towns, villages, camps, hamlets and schools (…) to vaccinate all target children so that all children concerned receive their vaccine,” he said. -he lets it be known.
AP/APA
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