12-01-2019, 10:55 PM
*** 2-Dec-19 World View -- Massive measles epidemic joins Ebola as health crises in DR Congo
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Measles spreads like wildfire across DR Congo, and spikes globally
****
![[Image: g191201b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g191201b.jpg)
Graphic showing huge global spike in measles cases in 2019. AFR=Africa, AMR=Americas, EMR=Eastern Mediterranean, EUR=Europe, SEAR=Southeast Asia, WPR=Western Pacific (WHO)
Measles is spreading like wildfire in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(CRC). It's believed that 250,000 people have been infected this year
alone, more than three times the number in all of 2018, and has spread
to all 26 provinces of the country.
More than 5,000 people have been killed. Of those, 4,500 are
children.
Measles can be controlled with vaccines, but DRC has a weak health
infrastructure, regional wars, escalating violence, and widespread
suspicion of health workers. There have been more than 300 attacks on
health care facilities in the country this year, with six deaths.
There's a shortage of vaccines, so not all parents who want their
children vaccinated can obtain them. Many people live in hard to
reach rural areas. Furthermore children require two vaccine jabs to
be protected against measles, making the vaccination problem even more
difficult.
Although DRC has the biggest measles outbreak in the world today, they
are far from alone. There are large measles outbreaks in other
countries, particularly in Africa, eastern Mediterranean, and eastern
Europe.
Even Western countries in Europe and North America are seeing surges
in measles cases. This is blamed on parents in political
"anti-vaxxer" movements who refuse to allow their children to be
vaccinated. This puts the children and the entire community at risk
of measles.
****
**** WHO closing Ebola health clinics in DR Congo, after attacks by tribal militias
****
In the past couple of months, the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu
province in eastern DRC had appeared to be well-contained, as the
number of new cases has been falling substantially. Health workers
have achieved this by means of aggressive contract tracing of new
cases, followed by providing vaccines to people considered vulnerable.
At the beginning of this year, it appeared that Ebola would continue
to spread exponentially faster, but since then, the World Health
Organization has effectively used new vaccines that have become
available to slow the spread considerably.
However, North Kivu is still a tribal war zone, where a Uganda-based
group of rebels known as "Allied Democratic Forces" (ADF) have been
fighting in eastern DRC against the Congolese army and other rebel
groups, to take advantage of the rich mineral resources of the region.
ADF militias and Maï-Maï militias have been attacking Ebola health
centers, forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to close some of
them down. This has raised fears that Ebola will once again begin to
spread.
****
**** Civilians attack UN peacekeeping missions in DR Congo for failure to protect them
****
As a separate issue, civilian protesters stormed the facilities of the
UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO). MONUSCO is the largest UN
peacekeeping force in the world, with some 15,000 personnel, but has
failed to bring peace. The attackers were protesting the fact that
MONUSCO had failed to protect them from violence, after ADF terrorists
had killed eight civilians last weekend.
Monusco was formed in 1999, and has been so unsuccessful at keeping
peace that there are actually calls for it to be disbanded.
A lot of people like peacekeeping forces, even when they do nothing to
keep the peace. The UN likes them, because they allow the UN to
collect money from Western countries to pay for them. They use that
money to increase the sizes of their budgets and staffs. Most of the
money is supposed to pay for the soldiers who are sent by member
countries to form the peacekeeping operation. However, the
governments of the member countries confiscate the salary money, so
little of it reaches the peacekeeping soldiers. So a lot of people
are making money from peacekeeping operations, even when they do not
keep the peace, which is why it's almost impossible to end a
peacekeeping operation.
Sources:
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC,
measles, World Health Organization, WHO, anti-vaxx movement,
United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo,
Monusco, Alliance of Democratic Forces, ADF, Uganda, Maï-Maï,
Ebola, North Kivu
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Measles spreads like wildfire across DR Congo, and spikes globally
- WHO closing Ebola health clinics in DR Congo, after attacks by tribal militias
- Civilians attack UN peacekeeping missions in DR Congo for failure to protect them
****
**** Measles spreads like wildfire across DR Congo, and spikes globally
****
Graphic showing huge global spike in measles cases in 2019. AFR=Africa, AMR=Americas, EMR=Eastern Mediterranean, EUR=Europe, SEAR=Southeast Asia, WPR=Western Pacific (WHO)
Measles is spreading like wildfire in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(CRC). It's believed that 250,000 people have been infected this year
alone, more than three times the number in all of 2018, and has spread
to all 26 provinces of the country.
More than 5,000 people have been killed. Of those, 4,500 are
children.
Measles can be controlled with vaccines, but DRC has a weak health
infrastructure, regional wars, escalating violence, and widespread
suspicion of health workers. There have been more than 300 attacks on
health care facilities in the country this year, with six deaths.
There's a shortage of vaccines, so not all parents who want their
children vaccinated can obtain them. Many people live in hard to
reach rural areas. Furthermore children require two vaccine jabs to
be protected against measles, making the vaccination problem even more
difficult.
Although DRC has the biggest measles outbreak in the world today, they
are far from alone. There are large measles outbreaks in other
countries, particularly in Africa, eastern Mediterranean, and eastern
Europe.
Even Western countries in Europe and North America are seeing surges
in measles cases. This is blamed on parents in political
"anti-vaxxer" movements who refuse to allow their children to be
vaccinated. This puts the children and the entire community at risk
of measles.
****
**** WHO closing Ebola health clinics in DR Congo, after attacks by tribal militias
****
In the past couple of months, the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu
province in eastern DRC had appeared to be well-contained, as the
number of new cases has been falling substantially. Health workers
have achieved this by means of aggressive contract tracing of new
cases, followed by providing vaccines to people considered vulnerable.
At the beginning of this year, it appeared that Ebola would continue
to spread exponentially faster, but since then, the World Health
Organization has effectively used new vaccines that have become
available to slow the spread considerably.
However, North Kivu is still a tribal war zone, where a Uganda-based
group of rebels known as "Allied Democratic Forces" (ADF) have been
fighting in eastern DRC against the Congolese army and other rebel
groups, to take advantage of the rich mineral resources of the region.
ADF militias and Maï-Maï militias have been attacking Ebola health
centers, forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to close some of
them down. This has raised fears that Ebola will once again begin to
spread.
****
**** Civilians attack UN peacekeeping missions in DR Congo for failure to protect them
****
As a separate issue, civilian protesters stormed the facilities of the
UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO). MONUSCO is the largest UN
peacekeeping force in the world, with some 15,000 personnel, but has
failed to bring peace. The attackers were protesting the fact that
MONUSCO had failed to protect them from violence, after ADF terrorists
had killed eight civilians last weekend.
Monusco was formed in 1999, and has been so unsuccessful at keeping
peace that there are actually calls for it to be disbanded.
A lot of people like peacekeeping forces, even when they do nothing to
keep the peace. The UN likes them, because they allow the UN to
collect money from Western countries to pay for them. They use that
money to increase the sizes of their budgets and staffs. Most of the
money is supposed to pay for the soldiers who are sent by member
countries to form the peacekeeping operation. However, the
governments of the member countries confiscate the salary money, so
little of it reaches the peacekeeping soldiers. So a lot of people
are making money from peacekeeping operations, even when they do not
keep the peace, which is why it's almost impossible to end a
peacekeeping operation.
Sources:
- ‘More deaths than Ebola’: Measles outbreak hits DRC (France24, 28-Nov-2019)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Measles outbreaks - Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF n° MDRCD028 / PCD053 (ReliefWeb, 25-Nov-2019)
- Children bear the brunt as the world's biggest measles epidemic sweeps Congo (Guardian, 22-Nov-2019)
- Measles – Global situation (WHO-int, 27-Nov-2019)
- DR Congo / MONUSCO appeals for calm after fresh Beni attacks (AfricaTimes, 25-Nov-2019)
- Monusco / Angry demonstrators storm UN camp in DRC after deadly attack (AlJaz, 25-Nov-2019)
Related Articles:
- Measles outbreaks in New York, Israel blamed on 'anti-vax' movement (03-Dec-2018)
- Measles outbreak being blamed on the 'anti-vaccine movement' (25-Jan-2015)
- Bill Gates calls for worldwide vaccination program (18-May-2011)
- Ebola outbreak in DR Congo now spreading exponentially faster (19-Jan-2019)
- World Health Organization fears 'perfect storm' could spread Ebola rapidly in DR Congo (26-Sep-2018)
- United Nations stunned as peacekeepers are massacred in DR Congo (09-Dec-2017)
- DR Congo's Joseph Kabila brings the art of power and corruption to new heights (24-Jul-2017)
- Massive government atrocities in DR Congo's Kasai threaten regional stability (21-Jun-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC,
measles, World Health Organization, WHO, anti-vaxx movement,
United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo,
Monusco, Alliance of Democratic Forces, ADF, Uganda, Maï-Maï,
Ebola, North Kivu
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
