Campaign to vaccinate 48m against yellow fever begins

A campaign has started, aiming to vaccinate at least 48 million adults and children in west Africa against yellow fever.

The World Health Organization-led initiative began this week in Senegal and aims to increase vaccine coverage to at least 80 per cent of the high-risk population over the next three years.

In total 610 million people in Africa are thought to be at risk from the disease, with areas where the current vaccination rate is particularly low being targeted first.

"With this campaign, the initiative will be able to vaccinate at-risk populations and thus quickly reduce the risk of devastating outbreaks that could otherwise threaten the region and maybe even beyond," said Doctor Adamou Yada, regional adviser for communicable disease surveillance and response in WHO's African region.

"After this first phase, we are working hard to expand the campaign to other areas in Africa and eventually reach everyone in the region - approximately 240 million people - who, we believe, need to be vaccinated against yellow fever," he added.

Yellow fever is an acute, haemorrhagic, viral disease spread by mosquitoes that causes death in between 20 and 50 per cent of people who become infected with it, the WHO stated.

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