In the morning hours of Thursday (19 January), Mr Adut Bullen Kot, brought his 3-year-old son to Yirol West County Hospital in Lakes state for measles vaccination. “I have seen a lot of children in the hospital suffering from measles. Today I brought my son to be vaccinated against measles because we must protect our children from the disease” said Mr Kot.

“Yirol West County is facing an outbreak of measles affecting children. Thanks to WHO, UNICEF and other partners for supporting the county to make sure children between the ages of 6  to 59 months  are protected against measles, a highly infectious illnesses that can easily spread between unvaccinated children”, said Dr Riak Ammor Kulang, Medical Officer, Yirol West Hospital.

We mobilized community volunteers to raise awareness and to educate parents on the importance of the measles vaccination ahead of the reactive immunization campaign. As a result, the response and the number of children who were vaccinated is significantly high, Dr Kulang emphasized.

In December 2022, the Ministry of Health South Sudan declared an outbreak of measles. To date, 3581 suspected measles cases have been reported, including 41 deaths in the country. Across all the ten states laboratory confirmed outbreaks have been reported from 25 counties.