MEASLES – NIGERIA (02): (BORNO) INSURGENCY, CASE SPIKE, 2023
A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Fri 9 Feb 2024
Source: Premium Times [edited]
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/health/666998-msf-treated-over-9000-measles-cases-in-borno-last-year-official.html
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) treated a record 3965 patients from
October to December 2023 in its health facilities in Borno State.
In 12 months, the international medical organisation said it treated
9618 patients with measles in both of its healthcare facilities —
Gwange Paediatric Hospital and Nilefa Kiji Nutrition Hospital — and
in MSF-supported primary healthcare (PHC) centres in Maiduguri.
MSF said measles admission to its facilities spiked last year [2023],
reaching a record number.
“Despite the vaccination efforts, this worrying situation calls for a
rapid reinforcement of routine immunisation campaigns,” Abdulkareem
Yakubu, MSF field communication officer, said in a statement sent to
Premium Times.
“We did not expect such a large influx of patients, particularly at
the end of the year [2023],” explained Abdulwahab Mohamed, MSF medical
coordinator, referring to the 3965 patients treated from October to
December, which represent almost 3 times more than for the same period
in 2022.
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in the northeast region of Nigeria have
suffered from a Boko Haram insurgency lasting for over a decade and a
half.
The insurgency has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people
and the displacement of millions of others. Several schools,
residences, health facilities, and roads were destroyed by the
insurgents while many communities are still unsafe to access by health
workers, teachers and other community service agents.
The MSF statement noted that the rise in the number of cases could be
attributed to the inability of public health actors “to achieve the
95% vaccination rate, required to suppress measles.
“This is notably due to the difficulties for the health workers in
accessing rural communities surrounding Maiduguri as the insecurity
has made vaccination campaigns a difficult endeavour,” the MSF Medical
Activity Manager at Gwange Paediatric Hospital, Jombo Tochukwu-Okoli,
said.
Other difficulties in achieving higher vaccination coverage as
highlighted by the MSF include interruption of routine childhood
vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreak of other
diseases like diphtheria and “a longer-than-usual malaria season.”
“The complex security situation in northern Nigeria, significant
funding cuts by international donors for Nigeria, and the continuous
neglect of public health infrastructure is alarming.
“Considering the high prevalence of vaccine-preventable outbreaks,
such as measles, diphtheria and meningitis, MSF is cautioning
international and national stakeholders not to look away at what could
be an oncoming perfect storm for a worsening of the humanitarian
crisis in 2024,” the statement noted.
Measles is one of the most contagious viral diseases in the world.
Infecting the immune cells, the virus quickly spreads all over the
body and eventually affects the respiratory system.