More than three hundred measles cases, including four deaths, were reported from January to March in Babila-Babombe Health Zone, Mambasa (Ituri) territory. These figures were provided to Radio Okapi on Monday, April 24, by Philemon Bwana Chamba, Chief Nurse at Babila-Babombe Health District.
“In my health district, I have registered three hundred cases since January. There are many deaths in the community. But those who come to us at the health center, there are no cures, including four deaths in the hospital,” elaborates Philemon Bwana.
The residents are at risk of contamination, because many patients are still hiding in the community that hosts many displaced people from Biacato and Beni, which worries the nurse.
Those patients who don’t make it to the hospital turn to traditional treatments, Philemon Champa points out.
“The care is really modest because we have no support. When we consult them for two to three days, a rash, cough and cold appear. We advise them not to drag the sick home. But also not to use local medicine.”
The Chief Nurse of Babila Babombe Health District has made an urgent appeal to the district government and its health sector partners to consider a door-to-door vaccination program to curb the spread of this disease.
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