Partners Team up in Kenya to Fight Measles and Malaria
| Washington, 8 July 2006 -- The government of Kenya has launched a two-phase integrated measles vaccination campaign, targeting more than five million children between nine months and five years of age. In addition to measles vaccinations, the campaign will provide other life-saving health interventions, including polio vaccinations (in select districts), vitamin A and de-worming medicine. Residents in the Nyanza and Western provinces will also receive insecticide-treated nets, proven to be one of the most effective and cost-efficient means of preventing malaria. The campaign is being supported by the Measles Initiative, a partnership formed to reduce measles deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, which is led by the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has provided long-lasting insecticide treated nets to combat malaria, which is a leading cause of childhood death and disability in Kenya as in many other African countries. The Kenya Red Cross will be working with the government and other partners to educate and mobilize communities. “The Kenya campaign was accelerated to protect children from a recent measles outbreak, the re-emergence of polio in Somalia, and the effects of a severe drought,” said Per Engeback, UNICEF Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. “The drought led to a food crisis that increased malnutrition in children, making them even more susceptible to measles.” The first phase of the campaign was moved up to April 29 in response to a measles outbreak that has resulted in approximately 42 deaths over the past six months. Preliminary results from the first phase indicate that the campaign reached more than 95 percent of the targeted population. “Kenya’s immunization program sets a good example in disease outbreak response,” said Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, WHO/AFRO Regional Director. “Upon realizing that the country was facing a serious threat of measles and polio, Kenya promptly responded by launching a commendable two-stage vaccination campaign to protect more than 5 million children.” Successful control of measles in Kenya depends on improving routine vaccinations of children at nine months of age, plus regular follow-up campaigns such as this one. Before Kenya began intensive measles control activities with a Measles Initiative-supported campaign in 2002, measles was a major cause of childhood death and disability. That campaign successfully reached more than 97 percent of the target and, since 2002, the number of reported measles cases in Kenya has decreased to fewer than 100 per year, prior to the recent outbreak. *Editor’s note: Still photos and b-roll are available from recent campaigns. Please visit the press room at www.measlesinitiative.org or contact Michael Oko at okom [at] usa.redcross.org. Background: Largely due to the technical and financial support of the Measles Initiative and the commitment from African governments, more than 200 million children have been vaccinated against measles and an estimated 1.2 million lives have been saved since 2001. Building on this achievement, in 2005, the Initiative expanded its technical and financial support to countries in Asia, where total measles deaths are highest outside of sub-Saharan The Initiative will also continue to carry out integrated campaigns in which health workers provide not only measles vaccines, but also other interventions such as insecticide-treated nets for malaria prevention, vitamin A, de-worming medication and polio vaccines.
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Michael Oko, American Red Cross, Washington, DC +1 202 303 6820 Amy DiElsi, UN Foundation, Washington, DC +1 202 419 3230 Erica Kochi, UNICEF New York +1 212 326 7785 Steven Stewart, CDC, Atlanta +1 404-639-8327 Hayatee Hasan, WHO Geneva +41 22 791 2103 Zorodza Machekanyanga,, WHO Regional Office for Africa, + 47 241 38129 |