Cape Town – A shortage of funds remained a huge barrier in efforts to curb the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) measles outbreak that had already claimed over 6 000 lives, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
The organisation this week called on international partners and agencies to increase resources to fight what it referred to as the “world’s worst measles epidemic”.
“With the death toll from the world’s worst measles epidemic in the DRC surpassing 6 000, the WHO is calling for more funding to stop the outbreak,” it said via a statement.
The DRC ministry of health, WHO, Gavi, Vaccine Alliance and other partner aid agencies vaccinated more than 18 million DRC children in 2019.
But in some areas, routine vaccination coverage remained low, with 25% of the reported measles cases found in children over the age of five.
