1.4 m children to be vaccinated against measles

At least 1.4 million children in southeastern Ethiopia are to be vaccinated against measles in a campaign beginning on 24 March, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Severe drought in southeastern Ethiopia has weakened populations and intensified the risk of a measles outbreak, prompting health authorities to conduct an immunisation campaign, said Viviane Van Steirteghem, a UNICEF nutritionist. At least 34 people have already died of measles in eastern Ethiopia over the last six months. "This campaign is urgent. In the Bale region [in the south], the first measles cases have been confirmed, and with the weakness of the population due to the current drought the disease could spread very quickly," she added. Children aged six months to five years will be immunised in three rounds starting in the Bale, Somali and Oromia regions, which are most severely affected by the current drought. As part of the campaign, vitamin A supplementation and de-worming will also be carried out. Nearly 13 million Ethiopian children would be vaccinated countrywide later this year in a bid to prevent any further outbreaks. In Afar [to the east], more than 370 cases of measles - 20 of them fatal - were reported between July and December 2005. Some 14 deaths were reported in Somali region. Measles is a highly contagious disease that kills about one million children worldwide every year, half of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN World Health Organization. The airborne viral disease is associated with high fever, rashes and vomiting.