The death toll from a measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has surpassed 6,000, the WHO said on Tuesday as it warned that more funds are needed to save lives during the world’s worst outbreak of the infectious disease.
Measles has killed nearly three times as many people in DR Congo than an Ebola outbreak in the nation that has garnered far more international attention, particularly after healthcare teams came under attack from armed militias operating in the area.
“Lack of funding remains a huge impediment to successfully curbing the outbreak,” the WHO said in announcing its appeal.
While US$27.6 million has already been mobilized to curb the measles epidemic, the WHO said that US$40 million is needed for a special six-month plan to vaccinate older children between the ages of six and 14.
A vaccine against measles has existed for decades, but about 310,000 cases have been reported in DR Congo since the beginning of last year.
Healthcare workers in DR Congo struggle to access remote parts of the vast nation and vaccination rates remain low in areas where armed groups operate.
Many health resources in DR Congo have been devoted to the simultaneous outbreak of Ebola.
At least 2,231 people have died of Ebola since that outbreak was first identified in August 2018.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other