U.N. rushes to prevent measles outbreak in Darfur
GENEVA, June 7 (Reuters) – The United Nations is racing to vaccinate over two million children against measles in the violence-torn west Sudan region of Darfur in an immunisation campaign that could save 50,000 lives, it said on Monday.
Aid agencies warn that hundreds of thousands of people face death from hunger and disease in the vast territory of Darfur, where the U.N. accuses government-backed militias of carrying out ethnic cleansing.
Over one million people have been driven from their homes, many of them fleeing over the border into neighbouring Chad, and children are already showing signs of malnutrition, making them more vulnerable to measles, the U.N. said.
“We have the potential to save up to 50,000 lives by preventing a measles outbreak,” said UNICEF chief Carol Bellamy in a statement.
World Health Organisation (WHO) officials could not say how many children normally die from the highly infectious viral disease in the Sudan, Africa’s largest country. Globally, measles is a leading cause of child mortality, particularly in poorer developing countries.
The WHO and UNICEF are spearheading the campaign together with the Sudanese health ministry. The aim is to vaccinate 2.26 million children before the end of June when the rainy season makes many roads impassable.
Violence has intensified in Darfur over the past year with Khartoum, which denies supporting the militias, putting the blame on rebel groups.
Separately, the U.N.’s World Food Programme appealed for $230.5 million to feed displaced people who have fled the fighting in Darfur, warning of a humanitarian disaster as the rainy season approaches.
The agency appealed for $200 million to feed displaced people in Sudan and $30.5 million for 192,000 people in neighbouring Chad. Response rates for both appeals were running at less than 50 percent.
“Unless the international community responds swiftly and generously, the response to the Darfur crisis will not be enough to prevent a major humanitarian disaster,” Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP’s Sudan country director, said in a statement.