Stick and Move

Médecins Sans Frontières research has shown that rapid, mass vaccinations can reduce the toll inflicted by measles epidemics in Africa. Emergency interventions in Niger, Chad, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo showed MSF researchers that early intervention can lead to a high proportion of averted cases.

En route a few weeks ago from Kinshasa to Goma, I met a Danish doctor, Mogens Petersen, who was part of a team on their way to Kisangani to vaccinate 700,000 children between six months and 15 years of age against measles. [UPDATE: My information was wrong ... the campaign targeted just over 300,000 children.] Mogens' team was replacing another MSF team that had begun the operation, and he expected to be in the field several weeks, swabbing and jabbing.

Measles is a contagious disease that primarily affects children, and can be fatal or cause serious complications, including blindness and pneumonia. Measles can be prevented by vaccination, but in the Congo, vaccination is not standard pediatric treatment. Worldwide, measles kills an estimated 450,000 people per year, and the majority are children.