The numbers of people becoming infected with measles and water-borne diseases is growing at an alarming rate in the Horn of Africa and some neighboring countries, says WHO (World Health Organization). Cases of severe diarrhea in Kenya and Ethiopia are a serious concern, the organization adds.

Severe drought in the Horn of Africa and Kenya is making millions of people move to other areas, an important factor in the spread of communicable diseases. WHO predicts the problem will get worse.

The Horn of Africa, also known as Northeast Africa or the Somali Peninsula is in northern east Africa, it is a peninsula that sticks out hundreds of miles into the Arabian sea. The Horn of Africa has approximately 100 million people, and includes Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

The affected countries have low immunization rates, a shortage of clean water, poor sanitation and extremely poor health care systems.

WHO Spokesman Tarik Jasarevic, said:

“Taking into account the size of the population in the worst hit areas in Ethiopia, WHO estimates that two million children under five are at risk of measles, and already since the beginning of the year, there were 5,000 cases reported of measles. More than three million of children under five should be screened for malnutrition and given vitamin A supplements.”

Nine million people in the worst affected areas are at very serious risk of developing water borne diseases, most of which cause acute watery diarrhea. So far, no cases of cholera have been reported. However, experts say that with at least five million vulnerable people present, it is probably only a question of time before an outbreak starts.

According to Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, about half of all the children below the age of five who arrive at their camps in Somalia are suffering from malnutrition. Malnourished children are especially susceptible to the complications of watery diarrhea and measles.

Edwards said:

“The data we have from Dollo Ado is still incomplete at the moment. But, at the worst incidents we are seeing-the mortality rates are at the Kobe camp at the moment, where we are registering 7.4 deaths per 10,000 people per day. To give you a sense of what that means, the normal baseline is below one.”

Reports of serious shortages of medical supplies among aid agencies in Kenya are growing, WHO informs. Health care facilities are currently overwhelmed with people coming in.

In the Mwingi (eastern Kenya) and Dadaab (northeastern Kenya) refugee camps there are 462 confirmed cases of measles, and 11 deaths from the disease.

In a communiqué, WHO wrote:

“The vicious cycle of hunger-ill -health-poverty means that fewer resources are dedicated to health care just as health needs increase as a result of poor diet. Lack of water and population displacements, which result in precarious sanitation, further increase the risk of communicable diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and measles.

Outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea and measles have already been reported in Djibouti and Ethiopia. The effects of the drought are also aggravated by weak health care systems, with limited human resources and medical supplies and low immunization coverage.

Tragically, the worst affected areas also have some of the worst disease burdens in the world. In Somalia infant mortality is estimated to be 88 per 1,000 live births, while mortality for the under-5s is at 142 per 1,000. From January through to the end of June this year, WHO estimated that more than three Somali children died each day as a result of malnutrition.

According to WHO, it has received only 22% of the funds required for Somalia, 5% of monies needed for Djibouti, and less than 2% of funding required for Kenya.

Source: WHO

Written by Christian Nordqvist