NAIROBI, Kenya – Measles killed more than 6,000 people since the start of 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.
According to the leading UN health agency, the cause of death resulting from the outbreak of what is termed as the “world’s worst measles epidemic” that raged across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
WHO puts forth health’s findings in a statement on Tuesday, basically alerting the world to do more to curb the measles epidemic globally.
A lack of funding, according to the WHO, remains a major obstacle in the control of the epidemic. Only 27.6 million U.S. dollars have been raised, but around 310,000 suspected cases of measles have been reported since the outbreak of the disease, said the statement.
“Thousands of Congolese families need our support to ease the burden of this protracted epidemic. We cannot do it without sufficient finances,” said Dr. Amedee Prosper Djiguimde from the WHO office in the DRC, calling for more fundraising to stop the epidemic.
Low vaccination coverage of vulnerable communities, malnutrition, insufficient public health systems, and outbreaks of other diseases with epidemic potential have also exacerbated the epidemic.
