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ASHA: MEASLES OUTBREAK IN ZIMBABWE
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20 July 2010 9:56:00 PM 
Posted by Ian Guenther [[ASHA SDO]]
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JOHANNESBURG, 28 June 2010 - "Out of sight, out of mind" explains why Southern Africa has been grappling with one of the biggest outbreaks of measles, a highly contagious viral disease, since 2009.
The outbreak has so far claimed 758 lives, mostly in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa. Ahmadu Yakubu, Regional Immunization Adviser at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said there had been lapses in the measles immunization programme because "countries were not seeing cases anymore".
Oladapo Walker, the Inter Country Support Coordinator for Eastern and Southern Africa at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that at least 95 percent of all eligible children had not been vaccinated against the disease.
Zimbabwe has been particularly hard hit this year. ASHA has been contracted to fly medical workers around that country to assist with the vaccination of children.
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