Africa is experiencing preventable disease outbreaks as a result of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
The continent registered a 400% increase in measles, that is, more than 17,000 cases between January and March, compared to the same period last year, Dr. Benido Impouma, a WHO expert in Africa, told a press conference. .
Two years of disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic have had “major effects on routine health service delivery, and immunization has been seriously affected” in many countries, he said.
Twenty-four countries confirmed polio outbreaks last year, four times more than in 2020. Last year, 13 countries reported new yellow fever outbreaks, up from nine in 2020 and three in 2019, according to WHO figures.
“Outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases are a warning sign,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in a statement. “As Africa battles COVID-19, we must not forget other health threats. Health systems could be seriously affected not only by COVID-19, but also by other diseases.”
The continent of 1.3 billion people has reported 11.4 million cases of COVID-19, including 252,000 deaths, according to figures from the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although the virus had been on a downward trend since January, the WHO on Thursday reported a rise in cases driven by a doubling of infection rates in South Africa, the African country hardest hit by the pandemic.
Impouma said that in the wake of the pandemic, the WHO is looking to help countries scale up COVID-19 vaccines as well as routine immunization services.
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