In May 2022, an MSF emergency team was sent to the Bangabola health zone, South Ubangi province, to respond to a measles outbreak. This response was one of the 45 measles-related emergency interventions carried out by MSF in DRC in 2022, as the country was once again facing a big increase in measles cases.
In Bangabola, our team vaccinated more than 33,000 children aged 6-59 months against measles, and supported the provision of measles, malaria and malnutrition care for nearly 2,700 children under the age of five at the Bangabola hospital and in several health centres. Beyond measles, the team also carried out multi-antigen vaccination campaigns.
Measles is the most contagious disease in the world—ten times more contagious than COVID-19. Every two to three years, measles outbreaks affect tens or even hundreds of thousands of children in the country. And 2022 was no exception, with more than 148,000 cases and 1,800 deaths reported.
Getting teams, vaccines, and materials to Bangabola was a challenge – as is the case in many areas of DRC. While air deliveries by plane are possible in Gemena, the provincial province, it takes then 7 hours by road to reach Bangabola town, on an often muddy and difficult track. From Bangabola town, some areas of the health zone are only accessible by canoe. It’s the case of Lisombo, 65 kilometers away from Limpoko, a small river port located nearby Bangabola town. To reach Lisombo, teams had to navigate on the Ngiri river for 7 hours – and even 14 hours when they used non-motorized canoes.
In 2022, MSF teams in DRC vaccinated more than 2 million children in 14 provinces and treated over 37,000 children with measles. In addition to organizing reactive vaccination campaigns during outbreaks in an area, MSF also provides logistical support for routine vaccination activities in health facilities in several provinces where its teams are present throughout the year.