Tanzania’s Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu [Photo: HealthCare Africa Magazine]
12 children have died of measles in south-western Tanzania’s Mlele district since December 2022.
This is according to Mlele district commissioner Majid Mwanga.
He added that 847 children had been infected with measles in the district between December last year and February this year.
According to Mwanga, health workers have so far vaccinated 16,480 children and are continuing with the exercise.
He noted that the government has called on people in the area to abandon false beliefs – such as that their children died after being bewitched – and get them vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Tanzania’s Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu is leading a nationwide campaign which started five months ago, to provide vaccinations for measles to children under the age of five.
Measles mostly affects children, however people of all ages can also get it.
Its symptoms include rash small spots in their mouth.