Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, has revealed that the world is facing an increased risk of Yellow fever outbreaks and Africa is particularly vulnerable. He said this while speaking in Abuja, Nigeria at a WHO regional meeting where the Eliminate Yellow fever Epidemics (EYE) in Africa strategy was launched.
Read more: What you need to know about Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemic Strategy for Africa
According to the strategy, about one billion people will be vaccinated against yellow fever in 27 high-risk African countries by 2026 with support from WHO, Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and more than 50 health partners.
“With one injection we can protect a person for life against this dangerous pathogen. This unprecedented commitment by countries will ensure that by 2026 Africa is free of Yellow fever epidemics,” said Dr Tedros.
In his response, Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, described the comprehensive global strategy has one that offers an unprecedented opportunity to end the devastating Yellow fever epidemics that periodically impact Africa.
“Ensuring that the most vulnerable communities have access to the vaccine through routine systems plays a central role in making this happen. Vaccine manufacturers and Gavi partners have worked hard to improve the global vaccine supply situation in recent years to make sure there is enough vaccine to respond to outbreaks, allow preventive campaigns and that routine immunization functions at full capacity,” he said.
The strategy aims to protect at-risk populations through preventive mass vaccination campaigns and routine immunization programmes, preventing international spread, and containing outbreaks rapidly. Developing strong surveillance with robust laboratory networks is key to these efforts.
Under the agreement, UNICEF will make vaccines available, advocate for greater political commitment and provide support in vaccinating children through routine immunization as well as during outbreaks of the disease.
“Today, the threat of yellow fever looms larger than ever before, especially for thousands of children across Africa,” said Stefan Peterson, UNICEF’s Chief of Health. “Given that almost half of the people to be vaccinated are children under 15 years of age, this campaign is critical to saving children’s lives, and would go a long way toward stamping out this disease.”
Yellow fever in Africa
After outbreaks of Yellow fever in densely populated cities in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo caused 400 deaths in 2016, the acute viral haemorrhagic disease re-emerged as a serious global public health threat. Brazil is currently battling its worst outbreak of Yellow fever in decades with more than 1,000 confirmed cases. The ease and speed of population movements, rapid urbanization and a resurgence of mosquitoes due to global warming have significantly increased the risk of urban outbreaks with international spread.
According to WHO, experience in West Africa demonstrates that the EYE strategy can work. When Yellow fever re-emerged as a public health issue in the early 2000s, countries in the region controlled the epidemics through preventive mass campaigns combined with routine immunization. No yellow fever epidemics have been recorded since in countries which successfully implemented this approach.