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Since October 15, a national measles vaccination campaign for children aged six months to ten years has been conducted across the country by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Organization’s offices in Lebanon. World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef. Funded by the Kuwait Development Fund, this initiative continues until the end of the year in community health and care centers under the Ministry of Health and in dispensaries.
The campaign is all the more important given that the world has been experiencing an epidemic of measles cases in recent years. In fact, a recent report from WHO and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States indicates strong progression of the disease worldwide. According to this document, in 2019, “the number of identified cases reached the highest level in 23 years” with 869,770 cases. An increase in deaths due to measles was also noted with 50% more deaths in 2019 (207,500) than in 2016. According to the document, this increase in cases is due to insufficient vaccination, linked in particular in some countries to distrust of vaccines, particularly that of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) associated with autism, according to a study published in 1998 and disproved by several other research studies that have shown that this vaccine does not increase the risk of this disorder . The author of the aforementioned study had, in fact, falsified his results. The decline in vaccination is also due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has disrupted vaccination programs. Lebanon is not excluded from this global measles resurgence. As early as March 2018, an outbreak of cases was reported in several regions, mainly in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila. The outbreak subsequently spread to Bekaa, Akkar and southern Lebanon.
“In December 2019, we started the first phase of this vaccination campaign in Akkar, Tripoli, Baalbeck and Hermel,” Randa Hamadé, head of the primary health care department and director of the national program program, explains to L’Orient-Le Jour of immunization at the Ministry of Public Health. “The campaign was part of the global measles control strategy and was to continue towards the end of January 2020 in other regions of Lebanon,” he continues. The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed everything, not just in Lebanon, but around the world. ”
Fear of the coronavirus
The vaccination campaign was therefore postponed for several months. It had to resume with the start of the school year, “since a part of the target children are in school”. Having been delayed and given that teaching is essentially done at a distance “we have decided not to delay any further, especially because we will live a long time with Covid-19 and we must guarantee the right to” a child to health and vaccination “, insists Ms Hamadé .
Furthermore, the second phase of the campaign was relaunched around mid-October. “Babies between the ages of six months and one year are given the measles and polio vaccine,” he says. Those between the ages of one and ten will receive the combined MMR vaccine as well as the polio vaccine. ”
But a reluctance is observed, “mainly caused by the fear aroused by Covid-19,” notes Ms. Hamadé. “People are afraid to go out”, he notes, assuring that “all preventive measures are taken in these community health and health centers and dispensaries”.
Lebanon does not have exact numbers on measles cases in 2020, “due to the pandemic, not all cases could be identified”. “However, based on the latest statistics and the evolution of the epidemic in recent years, we can only predict an increase in cases,” insists Ms Hamadé. At the beginning of December 2019, 1,061 cases of measles were recorded across the Lebanese territory, compared to 893 in 2018 in the same period, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health.
This wave of cases is also due to “the changing priorities of families, due to the economic and financial crisis” which weighs heavily on families, regrets Ms Hamadé. “Also, the vaccine was out of stock in the private sector,” he adds. However, this is still available in community health and care centers and dispensaries. Not all families are referred to these centers. ”
Measles is a viral disease that infects the airways before spreading throughout the body. Transmitted by direct contact or through the air, it is characterized by high fever, accompanied by a runny nose, cough, red eye and small whitish spots on the inner side of the cheeks. The rash appears several days later, first on the face and upper neck, then on the hands and feet.
To date, there is no cure for measles. Medical management helps avoid its complications, especially blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear or respiratory infections. The vaccine remains the only way to prevent it.
Since October 15, a national measles vaccination campaign for children aged six months to ten years has been conducted across the country by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Organization’s offices in Lebanon. World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef. Funded by the Kuwait Fund for Development, this initiative …
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