Significant increase in enrollment of male and female students measles in hospitals Doctors Without Borders (MSF) inside Yemen In the last three years, in the first half of 2023, the number of patients admitted in facilities supported by the humanitarian aid organization has approached 2023. 4,000 cases, almost three times as many as in all of 2022. Given the impact of nearly nine years of conflict and the economic difficulties plaguing the country, what MSF teams see is “probably the tip of the iceberg”.
In 2022, the organization sounded the alarm increase in child malnutrition a situation that aggravates other diseases in this country. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, making girls and boys, especially the unvaccinated, more prone to die from measles. lack of basic health services and unstable economic conditions Yemen’s population
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that can easily spread in densely populated communities.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that can easily spread in densely populated communities. It mainly affects children under the age of five and is especially dangerous for those with underlying diseases or complications. Even if it’s a disease life threatening, vaccine preventableMSF says.
take the kids to the hospital
The economic hardship fueled by the conflict makes it extremely difficult for people in remote areas to afford fuel or transportation to get their children to the hospital. The absence of vaccination campaigns and affordable general health facilities in the country exacerbates the problem and travel farther to get necessary treatmentIt’s about Doctors Without Borders.
As a result, patients are often admitted to MSF-supported hospitals “with complications, including advanced measles; Complications that can be avoided with preventive care Such as vaccination or timely medical treatment.” In evidence that the situation is worsening, MSF teams have observed a “huge increase” in the prevalence of the disease in their clinics this year.
More pressure on hubs
Isaac Alcalde, MSF’s general coordinator in Yemen, said: “In 2020, we saw the number of measles patients in our clinics increase from 731 in 2019 to just 77. We can attribute this to the mass vaccination campaign in 2019.” But in subsequent years, limited immunization activities and difficulties in accessing health care “probably skewed those numbers, and we had 762 measles patients in 2021,” he says.
MSF’s overall coordinator in Yemen insists: “The dramatic increase we’ve seen this year cannot be ignored: The number of cases has almost tripled to approach 4,000increasing the pressure on already overstretched medical facilities. We’re not just talking about numbers: they are children’s lives“.