Mozambique rolled out a new vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunise 1.7 million people against measles in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, which has recorded 341 cases and 18 deaths this year from the disease.
Leonildo Nhampossa, head of the health ministry’s Extended Vaccination Programme, told Portuguese news agency Lusa that the campaign would run until 23 September. The programme will cover more people in categories experiencing a higher number of cases, namely children under 5 years old and adolescents up to 15 years old. All health facilities in the province are taking part in the campaign, staffed by 6,200 people split into 1,487 teams, each composed of health professionals and community activists trained for this purpose.
Nhampossa emphasised that none of the 18 deaths have been recorded inside health facilities and that only one new death has been recorded since late August.
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The neighbouring province of Niassa, which has registered 63 cases since July, recorded no new cases in the last 30 days. “But we’re on alert, vigilant, in case there are emergency situations,” Nhampossa told Lusa, adding that a vaccination campaign for the province is scheduled for October. “People must adhere to vaccination, because this is the most effective way to prevent the spread of the disease, we can’t stop the disease if you don’t vaccinate.”
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory infection that affects some 20 million people each year. Vaccination can prevent the potentially deadly disease, but there is no specific treatment, limiting healthcare workers to offering supportive care to ease symptoms.
Mozambique is no stranger to the disease. Last August, the country successfully vaccinated five million children up to the age of 4 years and 9 months in less than a week. Their efforts reached all children aged 9 to 59 months across the provinces of Manica, Sofala, Tete and Zambézia, and nine districts in Niassa.
