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CONGO / YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION
STORY: CONGO / YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION
TRT: 3:27
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NAT
DATELINE: 25 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE AND BRAZZAVILLE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
26 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Various shots, market and busy streets
25 SEPTEMBER 2018, BRAZZAVILLE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO’s Emergencies Director for Africa:
“Yellow fever is an emerging disease in Africa and we have around 400 million people at risk. Our approach is to prevent Yellow fever epidemic in all Africa. So Congo is one of the 27 countries at risk and since one case of Yellow fever was confirmed in Pointe Noire we are organizing this campaign in support to the government to protect the population at risk because Yellow fever vaccine is still low in Congo.”
26 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
3. Various shots, people waiting to be vaccinated against Yellow fever
4. Various of nurse vaccinating people
5. Nurse looking at the vaccination card
6. Various of mother standing with her child
7. Patients being registered
25 SEPTEMBER 2018, BRAZZAVILLE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO’s Emergencies Director for Africa:
“Yellow fever is a deadly disease but luckily we have a highly effective vaccine which is protecting the people for their entire life. Life long protection, so acting very quickly to protect everybody in the population is the best strategy we can implement.”
26 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
9. Various shots, vaccination taking place
25 SEPTEMBER 2018, BRAZZAVILLE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO’s Emergencies Director for Africa. saying:
“Yellow fever is re emerging because of many factors, if you look at the rapid urbanization, the poor environment management and climate change this is leading to the proliferation of mosquitos. You know the Aedes mosquito is the vector for Yellow Fever the same vector for dengue, for zika and rift valley fever. It’s very important really to take into account this component. This is why we are vaccinating. We need to improve our environmental condition to prevent yellow fever but also other diseases.”
27 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
11. Various shots, nurse vaccinating people
26 SEPTEMBER 2018, POINTE-NOIRE, REPUBLIC OF CONGO
12. Various shots, Pointe-Noire beach
The Republic of Congo, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners started a vaccination campaign to control the spread of yellow fever in the port city of Pointe Noire and surrounding areas. More than one million people from nine months of age were vaccinated in a six-day campaign, which started on September 25th.
Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO’s Emergencies Director for Africa said “Yellow fever is an emerging disease in Africa and we have around 400 million people at risk. Our approach is to prevent Yellow fever epidemic in all Africa. So Congo is one of the 27 countries at risk and since one case of Yellow fever was confirmed in Pointe Noire we are organising this campaign in support to the government to protect the population at risk because Yellow fever vaccine is still low in Congo.”
He added “Yellow fever is a deadly disease but luckily we have a highly effective vaccine which is protecting the people for their entire life. Life long protection, so acting very quickly to protect everybody in the population is the best strategy we can implement.”
The immunisation drive is a response to a laboratory-confirmed yellow fever case, which tested positive on 21 August 2018, after visiting a rural area.
Since then, no other case has been confirmed in the country, but more than 200 suspected cases have been reported since the beginning of the year, with most of these notified by the health authority in Pointe Noire. It’s possible that there are also undetected cases as a large proportion of the Pointe Noire population seeks care in the private system and the national surveillance system may not be receiving notification.
Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall said “Yellow fever is re emerging because of many factors, if you look at the rapid urbanization, the poor environment management and climate change this is leading to the proliferation of mosquitos. You know the Aedes mosquito is the vector for Yellow Fever the same vector for dengue, for zika and rift valley fever. It’s very important really to take into account this component. This is why we are vaccinating. We need to improve our environmental condition to prevent yellow fever but also other diseases.”
Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes, which can be deadly, but is prevented by an extremely effective vaccine. Urban outbreaks are of particular concern and Pointe Noire is the country’s economic capital, with a population of more than 1 million. After declining for many years, yellow fever outbreaks are on the rise globally. The ease and speed of population movements, rapid urbanization and a resurgence of mosquitoes due to global warming have significantly increased the risk of urban outbreaks with international spread.
The neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo has shown solidarity with the Republic of Congo by lending more than 700 000 syringes for the vaccination campaign, while Pointe Noire health authorities wait for syringes to arrive from the international stockpile next month.
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