‘Measles cases in Sudan five times the annual average’: Unicef

As of 4 October, the number of confirmed cases reached 3,351, including 71 deaths, the Sudanese Ministry of Health reported.

The outbreak that started in December last year affected people in 71 localities across all the 18 states. 73 percent of the cases are children under 15 years, of whom 55 percent are children under five years. The highest number of cases was reported in the states of West Darfur (667), Red Sea (563) and Kassala (533). The highest number of deaths (23) was reported in North Darfur.

Unicef said that the number of confirmed measles cases has reached almost five times the annual average.

Aid organisations continue to respond to the outbreak in their areas of operation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest weekly bulletin.

Measles outbreak December 2014- 4 October 2015, Sudanese Ministery of Health (OCHA Sudan)

Funding

According to the Health Ministry, $5.2 million ($4 million from the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) and $1.2 million from the Sudanese government) have been allocated for measles response in 60 localities in the country.

The CHF funds will enable Unicef to procure 6.8 million doses of vaccines, which are enough for the vaccination of 5.7 million children between six months and 15 years across 57 high priority localities, OCHA reports.

The Ministry, Unicef, and the World Health Organization (WHO) are developing two measles vaccination campaign proposals, one for areas where there is an outbreak and one for priority areas in Abyei, the three states of Kordofan, Blue Nile, Sennar, and White Nile.

OCHA states that additional funds, of about $1.8 million, are needed to cover operational costs for vaccinations for children under 15 years in Khartoum state and in some localities in El Gedaref state. A further $3 million is needed to cover vaccine and operational costs for campaigns in the Northern State, River Nile, and El Gezira states.