Sudan’s health ministry says it will immunise children against measles across the country, where more than three million people have been forced from their homes since fighting began in April.
“Most of the displacement camps offer vaccination services through traveling medical teams,” says Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim. The doses were provided by the UN’s children fund, Unicef.
White Nile and Sennar are likely to be the first states targeted. Remote areas including Darfur, which has seen some of the worst fighting, are also said to be a priority even though staffing levels are at 60% because of a lack of funding.
It’s not clear how they will contend with ongoing fighting between Sudan’s rival military forces, or if they’ve been granted safe passage to do their job.
Some regions have been more challenging than others, Mr Ibrahim tells the BBC.
“[In] Al-Gezira state the vaccination service covers 90% of the children including internally displaced people. In some states the vaccination services dropped from 60% to only 47%.”
Measles is a serious concern, with 1,000 cases detected across seven states and a number of child deaths, he says.
Credit || BBC AFRICA
