The world’s biggest epidemic

Measles is cutting a swathe through DR Congo.

Measles has killed nearly 5,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, authorities said, after the disease spread to all the provinces in the country.

Close to a quarter of a million people have been infected this year alone.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is the world’s largest and fastest-moving epidemic.

But hey, please let’s hear more from prosperous middle-class white people in California and Surrey who refuse to vaccinate their little Gwyneth and Nigel.

The Congolese government and the WHO launched an emergency vaccination programme in September that aimed to inoculate more than 800,000 children.

But poor infrastructure, attacks on health centres and a lack of access to routine healthcare have all hindered efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

Four million children have been vaccinated, but experts warn that this amounts to less than half of the total in the country – and not enough vaccines are available.

The majority of those infected with measles in the country are infants.

Meanwhile there’s a Facebook page for Stop Mandatory Vaccination Now. It’s very active.

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