Measles outbreak kills 700 children in Zimbabwe
Atleast 700 children have lost their lives to a measles outbreak in Zimbabwe since April this year.
READ ALSO: Measles outbreak: Atleast 157 children dead in Zimbabwe
The southern African country’s health ministry announced this over the weekend.
Some are calling for the enactment of legislation to make vaccination mandatory in a country where anti-modern medicine religious sects hold sway on large swathes of the population of 15 million people.
The southern African country’s health ministry announced at the weekend that 698 children have died from measles since the outbreak started in April. The ministry said 37 of the deaths occurred on a single day, Sept.1.
The health ministry said it had recorded 6,291 cases of measles as of Sept. 4.
UNICEF on Monday said it “is deeply concerned” with the number of cases and deaths among children due to measles.
The agency said it is assisting the government to combat the outbreak through immunization programs.
The measles outbreak was first reported in the eastern Manicaland province in early April and has since spread to all parts of the country. Many of the deaths have been of children who were not vaccinated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in August.
The government has embarked on a mass vaccination campaign targeting children aged between 6 months and 15 years old and is engaging traditional and faith leaders to support the drive.
MTO/Africanews
