Uganda moots measles response plan as world concern grows over outbreaks
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by
AFENET
The East African country has experienced five measles outbreaks in different districts between January and February 2024 compared to six outbreaks between January and December 2023.
In response, Ministry of Health through the Uganda Expanded Program on Immunisation (UNEPI) together with partners developing a National Measles Preparedness and Response Plan to control and prevent outbreaks in high and moderate-risk districts in the country.
The foundation for the plan was laid at a 20 -22 February 2024 workshop at Rider Hotel in Mukono and supported by AFENET through the CDC-funded Life Course immunization project.
This comes on the heels of a World Health Organization’s warning on 21 February 2024 that more than half the world’s countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken. According to WHO data, which is thought to represent just a fraction of the total, cases last year were already up 79% to over 300,000.
Several published studies on the subject show that Uganda continues to register measles outbreaks almost every year despite the availability of free effective vaccines in public health facilities.
In a bid to prevent measles outbreaks, WHO set an ambitious but achievable target of vaccinating greater than or equal to 95% of the susceptible children by 2020, which would help create herd immunity. The latest WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) for Uganda, based on data reported until 26 June 2023, indicates that the country is yet to meet this target as indicated in the graphic below.
In the case of MCV 2nd dose, coverage stands at 49%. Yet low levels of immunization coverage lead to low immunity at the community level, which ultimately may lead to an outbreak of measles if the virus is introduced.
