 in collaboration with the Ministry of Health has launched a vaccination campaign over the deadly hepatitis E outbreak in South Sudan to reach remote communities and prevent more deaths.){kind=link}
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health has launched a vaccination campaign over the deadly hepatitis E outbreak in South Sudan to reach remote communities and prevent more deaths.
MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan Mamman Mustapha said over 500 cases of hepatitis E have been treated at the MSF hospital in Old Fangak, Jonglei State, and 21 people died since April 2023.
Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday that it had begun a mass vaccination campaign against hepatitis E in South Sudan, where an outbreak of the deadly disease is threatening pregnant women in particular.
Mustapha emphasized that the first vaccination campaign is to be conducted during the acute stages of an active outbreak and isolated part of South Sudan is intended to prevent further loss of lives.
He explains the suffering in Fangak County which is causing loss of lives due to inaccessible roads to deliver the services.
MSF’s Head of Mission in South Sudan explains that Hepatitis E is a waterborne disease that can be fatal.
Mamman adds that over 70,000 people die from the disease each year because there is no cure for hepatitis E.
The head of Mission in South Sudan regrets the lack of access to good treatment, especially in countries with limited numbers of health facilities like South Sudan.
The vaccine was developed in 2012 and approved for use in emergency settings by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015.
MSF head of Mission in South Sudan narrates that the vaccine has been used once in a mass vaccination campaign in the Bentiu since its approval in 2015.
He adds that more people might have died at home during the outbreak because they were unable to reach the hospital.
MSF intends to have fully vaccinated 12,776 women and girls aged 16-45 by the end of the vaccination in June 2024.
MSF urges international and local health and humanitarian organizations to take action to improve the water and sanitation conditions in Old Fangak through awareness raising, and implementing proper sewage and sanitation facilities.