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For Immediate Release
March, 28 2011, 03:53pm EDT
Contact:
Tim Shenk,Press Officer,Direct: 212-763-5764,E-mail:,tim.shenk@newyork.msf.org
DRC: Response to Measles Epidemic Inadequate
MSF Calls for Increased Action from International Health Actors
NEW YORK/ BRUSSELS/ KATANGA
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and international health agencies must immediately increase their response to a measles epidemic rapidly spreading through the country, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said today.
Over the past few months, MSF has undertaken a complete emergency measles response (treatment, vaccination, and epidemiological surveillance) in Katanga, Kasai Occidental, and South-Kivu provinces. More than 1.5 million children have been vaccinated and 21,000 measles cases detected over the past six months. However, new measles outbreaks have flared in Bandundu, Kasai Oriental, and Maniema provinces. The epidemic is rapidly moving north and is showing no signs of slowing.
"The disease is spreading like wildfire," said Gael Hankenne, MSF head of mission in the DRC. "All parties involved in health in the DRC must now make this epidemic a national priority."
The logistical, financial, and human resources necessary to stop this extremely contagious and often fatal disease are massive, and MSF cannot be the only organization providing a hands-on response throughout the entire country, said Hankenne.
The organization is asking DRC's Ministry of Health to respond as soon as outbreaks are reported in the country. It is also requesting that international donors and institutions, and health organizations working in the DRC--particularly United Nations agencies such as the WHO and UNICEF, and other NGOs--take action immediately.
"We request that they either release emergency funding or undertake hands-on action as part of an epidemic response," said Geza Harzi, MSF head of mission in the southern DRC province of Katanga. "If this international response is not rapid, it will be impossible to check the spread of measles in the DRC."
Measles can cause medical complications including pneumonia, malnutrition, severe dehydration, ear infections, and eye infections that can cause blindness. Mortality rates vary considerably depending on the context. Among a population that has not been vaccinated, measles can kill between 1 and 15 percent of afflicted children. Among vulnerable groups, such as those who have been displaced or are malnourished, the mortality rate can be as high as 25 percent if people have limited access to health care, as is the case throughout DRC.
MSF is expanding its emergency response in three provinces: Tshikapa in Kasai Occidental province, at Fizi in South-Kivu province, and at Kolwezi and Likasi in Katanga province. More than one million children will be protected with emergency vaccinations.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.
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In contrast with Thanksgiving celebrations across the United States on Thursday, Native Americans held a National Day of Mourning, promoted accurate history, and championed Indigenous voices and struggles.
Despite rainy conditions, the United American Indians of New England held its 55th annual National Day of Mourning at Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Kisha James, who is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and also Oglala Lakota, shared how her grandfather founded the event in 1970 and pledged to continue to "tear down the Thanksgiving mythology."
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James took aim at fossil fuel pipelines, oil rigs, skyscrapers, corporations, the U.S. military, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of immigrants, and declared that "no one is illegal on stolen on land."
Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston who helped organize this year's gathering, toldUSA Today that "while we are mourning some tragic history but also contemporary issues, we are also expressing gratitude for each [other] and building this community space."
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This year's event in Plymouth included speeches about the suffering of Palestinians—as Israel wages a U.S. government-backed war on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 44,330 people, injured 104,933, and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—and of people impacted by extractive industries.
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For the second year in a row, the group ran in front of the Ronald McDonald float to briefly stop the parade.
This year, they jumped the barricades at West 55th Street just after 9:30 am.
Many sat on the ground, locking arms and chanting "Free, free Palestine!"
Others held a banner behind them, reading "Don't celebrate genocide! Arms embargo now."
Video footage shared on social media shows members of the New York Police Department grabbing protesters and their banner, and throwing at least one person face-first into the road.
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"Our history books mark 'the first Thanksgiving' in 1621 when at least 90 Wampanoag men, led by Massasoit, walked in on a Puritan harvest feast," Beyal detailed. "Approximately 150 years later, all 13 colonies celebrated a day of solemn Thanksgiving to celebrate the win of the Battle of Saratoga in December of 1777. [U.S. President] George Washington called for a day of thanksgiving and prayer in 1789 to give gratitude for the end of the Revolutionary War."
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Israel imposed a last-minute curfew on Wednesday night, prohibiting Lebanese citizens from crossing into the south overnight.
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