With 107 deaths recorded since October 2023, half of which concern children under 12 years old, in addition to 20,000 confirmed cases, measles is raging in Morocco and is becoming a worrying problem for specialists and citizens.
Worried by this exponential and surprise increase, experts are working hard to curb the proliferation of the virus. Moulay Said Afifpediatrician and vaccination specialist, emphasized the importance of the vaccine as a unique solution to combat this disease, urging citizens to accelerate the pace of vaccination and ensure that all vaccine doses are complete to guarantee optimal protection.
Questioned by Hespress, the specialist indicated that “since October 2023 until last Monday, 107 people have died due to measles, half of whom are children under 12 years old, and 20,000 cases have been recorded”. Aware of the fallout from this proliferation, Afifi emphasizes that “this figure only concerns diagnosed cases, so it may be higher”.
The one and only solution is the vaccine, the doctor responds, before mentioning that the vaccine is safe, contrary to the rumors circulating, and it is the same vaccine that was produced more than 40 years ago.
“The measles vaccine consists of two doses, administered either free of charge in health centers throughout the country, or at a price of 150 dirhams in pharmacies.”. He added: “Anyone who has already received one dose must take the second, and those who have not received any dose must absolutely get vaccinated, regardless of their age”.
After a long absence, the specter of measles comes to haunt the minds of Moroccans. This resurgence revives the concerns of Moroccan households. Sensitive to citizens’ fears, Doctor Tayeb Hamdi, health systems researcher, in a previous reaction sent to Hespress FR, he sets out the causes of parents’ reluctance towards vaccination campaigns. For him: “ measles vaccine hesitancy is amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, blaming family reluctance or collective ignorance would be simplistic. The truth is that this decline reflects a relaxation of awareness campaigns, a lack of mobilization of health authorities and an insufficiency of catch-up programs. It is not a problem of popular will, but of institutional inertia”.
