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Zimbabwe says measles outbreak has killed 700 children
Zimbabwe’s health ministry has said the death toll from a measles outbreak has risen to almost 700 children since this April.
The Health Ministry said on Twitter on Monday (Sep 5): “As of Sept. 4, 2022, Zimbabwe had 6,291 confirmed cases, 4,459 recoveries, and 698 deaths.”
“Cumulatively, 47.8 % of the cases were reported from Manicaland Province in Eastern Zimbabwe while Mashonaland West province has the highest cumulative case fatality rate (16.5%).
“Meanwhile, males constitute 52.7% of the total cases,” the ministry added.
The latest figures are more than four times the number of deaths announced about two weeks ago when the ministry said 157 children, most of whom were unvaccinated due to their family's religious beliefs, had succumbed to the disease.
Some are calling for the enactment of legislation to make vaccination mandatory in a country where anti-modern medicine religious sects hold sway on large swathes of the population of 15 million people.
Dr. Johannes Marisa, the president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association, told The Associated Press on Monday that the government should escalate an ongoing mass vaccination campaign and embark on awareness programs targeted especially at anti-vaccine religious groups.
"Because of the resistance, education may not be enough so the government should also consider using coercive measures to ensure that no one is allowed to refuse vaccination for their children," said Marisa. He urged the government to "consider enacting legislation that makes vaccination against killer diseases such as measles mandatory."
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UNICEF has expressed concern over the increase in measles deaths.
“UNICEF is deeply concerned with the numbers of cases and deaths among children due to a measles outbreak in Zimbabwe,” a UNICEF statement said on Monday (Sep 5).
“UNICEF assists the government to control the outbreak through the tracking of cases in the community and supplementary immunization activities,” added the UNICEF statement.
The measles outbreak was first reported in the eastern Manicaland province in early April and has since spread to all parts of the country.
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Many of the deaths have been of children who were not vaccinated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in August.
It is worthy to note that the Zimbabwean government is blaming the measles outbreak on immunization gaps due to faith and traditional beliefs that have seen some children missing out on national vaccination, which is free.
