UN agency set for new round of cholera vaccination drive in South Sudan

JUBA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN migration agency said on Tuesday that it will begin the second round of oral cholera vaccination campaign in South Sudan's Malakal and Wau regions.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the first round in March reached over 60,400 people above one year of age.

"The second-round campaigns are slated to begin in both locations in the coming days," said the IOM in a statement released in Juba.

The UN agency said the campaigns target both internally displaced persons within the Malakal and Wau protection of civilian sites and displaced and host communities in Malakal and Wau towns.

According to the UN, protracted displacement, access constraints and poor health and water and sanitation infrastructure have contributed to yearly cholera outbreaks in South Sudan since the crisis began in 2013; the longest lasted from June 2016 to February 2017, killing 436 people.

As a preventive measure, IOM said, it completed the first of a two-round oral cholera vaccination campaigns in Malakal and Wau, reaching approximately 24,300 and 36,100 individuals respectively in late March.

The UN agency said it completed oral cholera vaccination campaigns in Unity, Warrap and Eastern Equatoria in 2017, reaching more than 469,800 people with the vaccine.

IOM said it also led an eight-day reactive measles vaccination campaign in Aweil East, reaching over 83,700 children following an outbreak that began in February.

The campaign, which involved over 117 teams of five people each, targeted children aged six to 59 months.

"Children are extremely vulnerable to outbreaks of measles and other contagious diseases, particularly in areas such as Aweil East where health conditions are further compromised by severe food insecurity and poor living conditions," said Derebe Tadesse, IOM Migration Health Officer.

"The measles vaccine will save lives. With just one dose, 85 percent of children over nine months and 95 percent of children over twelve months of age are immune," Tadesse added. Enditem