Since November 2016, Médecins Sans Frontières has vaccinated over 675,000 children against measles, and cared for more than 14,000 patients in health zones throughout five provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Maniema, South Kivu, Tanganyka, Ituri and Equateur.
MSF teams are currently supporting the Ministry of Health’s fight against measles. “We are facing a serious situation that requires a significant response effort. Time is of the essence for everyone involved: MSF, the Congolese authorities and other partners”, explains Jeroen Beijnsberger, head of the MSF mission in Kinshasa.
To guarantee effective immunisation coverage (the vaccination of 95% of children aged 6 months to 14 years) the teams must cover even the most remote areas. In a country as huge as the DRC, which also lacks road infrastructure, this can mean travelling hundreds of kilometers on motorbike, crossing rivers in dugout canoes, or walking for days through an inhospitable forest. Logistics can be particularly challenging in more dangerous regions affected by the presence of armed groups, such as South Kivu and Tanganyka.
In addition to immunisation campaigns, MSF teams are delivering medical care to measles patients, mainly children under the age of ten, providing outpatient treatment of symptoms, with a particular focus on malnourished children suffering from measles, as they are particularly vulnerable.
