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afrol News, 11 September - A meningitis outbreak in Rwanda is threatening the lives of some 2 million people amid fears that the disease may spread close to Kigali, the capital, endangering another 1 million residents, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned yesterday. Thanks to a UNICEF-backed vaccination programme, the situation was "improving in some areas, but new outbreaks are stretching the available resources to their limit," the agency said, appealing for resources to respond. Rwanda's Ministry of Health, in collaboration with UNICEF, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MFS), issued an appeal for US$ 2 million to support a mass vaccination programme targeting the 2 million people most at risk and to cover areas of the country which are vulnerable to the spread of the disease. - The spread of the disease to Kigali City would be potentially catastrophic, warned UNICEF Representative Theophane Nikyema. He pledged that the agency would work with its partners to contain the disease, but stressed the need for funds. "We desperately need funding in order to quickly bring in the vaccines necessary to protect people from meningitis," he said. UNICEF had already provided 665,000 doses of vaccine and a further 250,000 doses arrived in Kigali today. So far, there have been 683 confirmed cases of meningitis, with 83 deaths. According to the UNICEF appeal, one million US$ was required for the purchase of vaccines and injection material, to vaccinate the 2 million people most at risk. A further one million US$ was required to cover areas of the country which are vulnerable to the spread of the disease from the neighbouring epidemic areas. The organisations were working together with the Rwandan Ministry of Health in the field to improve the monitoring of the spread of the disease, the treatment of those taken ill and to get the people vaccinated quickly. Sources:
Based on UNICEF and afrol archives
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